Who are you?

© Adriana Citlali Ramírez 2008

I saw you in the front cover of a magazine  
and wondered who you are    

Your photographer’s name is mentioned  
in an article signed with its author’s name    
         Your  photo  is   there
           the camera’s brand
             the lens
             aperture
           light conditions
               all is clearly detailed

You  remain  nameless
                       unmentioned
                       anonymous
    &       yet  so  intriguing

                 Who are you?
                  Why do you cover your mouth?
                                         What do you hide?

Your eyes have a secret
                    obvious & vague

I decide to forget you
I do          somehow
                 weeks
                 maybe months

Until I see you again
in that empty land
walking without hesitation
with a sparkle in your eyes
           You are not scared
           maybe concerned or simply happy

Your hands still cover your mouth
                                Is there a smile behind?
                 A word that won’t be expressed?
                         Are you whispering a wish?
             Is there something in your hands?

You intrigue me
make me wonder
       I have to draw you
            solve the mystery
            by deconstructing a moment frozen in a photo
            extract its contrasts
            place strokes       simple lines
            of carbon   on paper
            black and white

I frame the drawing
place it somewhere in my living room
forget about you

Until I see you again
                 Who are you?
You  remain  nameless
                         Are you whispering a wish?
Your eyes have a secret
You intrigue me
                         I wonder why …




_____Adriana Citlali
XXVIII-II-MMXV
I-III-MMXV



Today is Open Link Night at dVerse – Celebrating Poetry!!!



Surrounded by news

Spring weather in winter.
Fisherman lands monster catfish.
Why you should care about deflation.
 –Amelia turns the page.

Fog in St Petersburg.
Lost Sherlock Holmes story discovered.
Get ready for $10 oil.
 –Amelia reads the article.

Winter wonderland in the south.
The beauty of a five-mile rainbow.
U.S. drone-attacks Yemen.
 –Amelia sips her coffee.

Brazil priest falls in grave while praying at burial
Science explains the dress-color debate.
Bosses learn not to be so clueless.
 –Amelia is overwhelmed by indifference.
   Amelia is surrounded by news.




_____Adriana Citlali
XXVIII-II-MMXV

Then you are!

23:59 — February 18 2030   

Here I am   
Then        you are   

So innocent     you     I?   

I remember holding this same letter   
                           (a weird object)   
                      questioning its authenticity   

Here I am     writing it now   
                      feeling stuck in an anticausal reality
                       — your possible future

Should I tell you about the sky of your tomorrow?
Shall you be protected from tears to come?
                           (Will the joy still follow?)

Here I am     thinking of me     thinking of you
with the power to change it all        to open the alternative path
                                                                (to write a Pandora letter)   

Though    I can             I won’t

                                                   (I wonder how it started to exist in the first place)
                                                           (Was it when I read it first      as you are reading it then?)
                                                            (Or when I wrote it     as I am writing it now?)
                                                             (Was I joking when I first wrote     I remember holding this same letter)

I want you to read the words in my memory  

About today    
  The moon still shines at night
  You are happy
  The path is worth walking      once more  & again
           I would not exchange any tear
                    a single laugh
                    or a casual jump

Here’s your homework
  Can you walk the same path and be as happy as I am?
  If so   burn this letter the night I burnt it     so I can get to write it today

Here’s a clue
  If your future can be the same as mine
  you walked to the balcony and looked at the stars
  right after reading my question about tomorrow’s sky

Here’s the catch
  Can you memorize these words?
  Do you think I did?

Thinking of me     thinking of you
                                                   I




_____Adriana Citlali
XIX-II-MMXV

Written for Poetics @dVerse.
Have you ever imagined receiving a letter or poem from your future self?




Permission to dream

Poetics – Writing to the Art of Danny Gregory –a combination of polished and spontaneous creation | at dVerse Poets Pub.

©Danny Gregory 2013

The monk said I shall remove all thoughts
                                          all moods
                                          all colours
   … a blank mind  

      Eyelids closed
      Vocal chords relaxed
      Arms not comfortable
I change position            Concentrate
   … blank mind    
              not everything is white
              should it be white?

      Follow my breathing
   … blank mind    
               is that tune a bolero?
      Noiseless breathing
   … blank mind !!!    
   … blank mind ! !    
   … blank mind !    
…
…               waves touch my body
…
               soft sand slipping through my fingers
              the sun is warm
              blue sky
              waves

STOP

      Eyelids closed
      Noiseless breathing
      Willingness to forget all thoughts
   … blank mind           ocean
      Comfortable position
   … blank mind    
…
                                      whispers
     Maybe emptiness is black
   … black mind           children laughing
     Maybe emptiness is dark
   … dark mind           not dark enough
     Face on my pillow
   … dark mind           darker?
     Eyelids tightly closed
   … dark mind           darker
   … dark mind           
   … dark
…
…
…
    …           waves
…
              blue sky
…
              I run & smile
…
              blue sky
…
              I fly
…
CONTINUE
…
   … magic mind        …       I dream        …




_____Adriana Citlali
XII-II-MMXV