"Tus Pies" por Pablo Neruda

 

Cuando no puedo mirar tu cara

miro tus pies.

 

Tus pies de hueso arqueado,

tus pequeños pies duros.

 

Yo sé que te sostienen,

y que tu dulce peso

sobre ellos se levanta.

 

Tu cintura y tus pechos,

la duplicada púrpura de tus pezones,

la caja de tus ojos que recién han volado,

tu ancha boca de fruta,

tu cabellera roja,

pequeña torre mía.

 

Pero no amo tus pies

sino porque anduvieron

sobre la tierra y sobre

el viento y sobre el agua,

hasta que me encontraron.

Power of the Pen (in response to the Charlie Hebdo Shooting)

I remember when the pen was innovative--
Wrote the classics,
Composed the epics,
Scribbled satirical plays and poems.

I remember when the pen was thoughtful--
Pondered philosophy,
Questioned the impossible,
Challenged the norm.

I remember when the pen was sword--
Slayed injustice,
Decapitated corruption,
Massacred the malevolent.

Once an ink-soaked quill,
Now pen is gun.
Firing bullets
of prose
of poetry,
of illustration and expression--
free expression.

Now, enemy fired
with tangible bullets
of hatred,
of pride,
of cruelty,
The pages bleed,
The comics cry in agony.

Now blood-soaked, the page
is stained red
red seeps into each word
and for a moment
the message is no longer seen.

Another moment,
the page,
like a sponge, absorbs each blow
and the message becomes coherent,
engorged,
empowered

In hundreds
in thousands
in millions and more!

All for expression.
All for humanity.
All for freedom.

Je suis Charlie.

New Year Poem 2015

It's a new year--

New goals
New friends
New loves.

New triumphs
New mistakes
New lessons learned.

New disciplines
New cynicism
New doubts.

New hope
New dreams
New life.

But are these not all stagnant?
Not all the same
Still
The new year engrains
in our brains
that all will be different as before

But some things never change.

Goals are goals
Friends are friends
Loves are loves

Triumphs come and go
Mistakes are made often
Lessons are learned each day

Disciplines are overrun
by old habits
Old habits die hard
Cynicism is still in style
Doubts still brings us down

Hope in things to come
Dreams in what might be
Life to change
at the stroke of twelve
at the drop of the--

Ball.

Interpret the new year as you will
As you always do
Keyword "always"
Diet
Dance
Dine
Divine, isnt it?
Or dine
dance
then diet.
It doesn't matter.

Treat everyday like a new year
And you'll most likely lose the weight you want
Or you'll be treated for your short term memory loss
Hey but you'll be a size 0 in no time!