Category Archives: Alberto Álvaro Ríos
Whirling with Alberto
Each breath-of-a-poem begins with a phrase taken from “The Lime Orchard Woman” by Alberto Álvaro Ríos .
~~ 1 ~~
traveling circus—
the man with the kewpie dolls
pushes pins in one
~~ 2 ~~
At the silliness
of the clown with the red ball
old men are weeping.
~~ 3 ~~
as if by small bones
she could keep the scorpion
from attacking her
~~ 4 ~~
the way she begins
to bite into her heartbreak
as a ripened plum
~~ 5 ~~
At the silliness
of an ear that tries to sing,
she begins to laugh.
~~ 6 ~~
She sits and watches
as the blind man stumbles home,
his white cane broken.
~~ 7 ~~
People look at her
as though the witches spawned her
late one Friday night.
~~ 8 ~~
One centimeter
away from resurrection
it all falls apart.
~~ 9 ~~
the edge of a wall
where an old man stands alone
watching plums ripen
~~ 10 ~~
leading to his house
a trail of broken timbers
branded with hex signs
~~ 11 ~~
mountains that open
as though spells from long ago
were being broken
~~ 12 ~~
the moment to breathe
the moment she has hunted
among the house wrens
© 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 207
Whirling with Alberto
Each vignette begins with a phrase culled from “The Night Would Grow Like a Telescope Pulled Out” by Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Álvaro Ríos
~~ 1 ~~
hear only the sounds
coming from torture chambers—
souls in deep distress
~~ 2 ~~
brown lips and thin tongues
still strong enough to lust for
things they dare not say
~~ 3 ~~
the words and the smoke—
this mysterious lotion
soothing troubled souls
~~ 4 ~~
a licorice stick
soaked in liquor of longing
to tempt the lonely
~~ 5 ~~
Phrases become birds—
chickens, wrens, owls and eagles—
when she writes poems.
~~ 6 ~~
great-grandmother’s house—
trains from Philadelphia
hurtling through her dreams
~~ 7 ~~
around the elbows
the sagging flesh reminding
her of eighty years
~~ 8 ~~
this night of summer
swaying in the front porch swing
moonbeams tease her hair
~~ 9 ~~
into plates of food
a hypnotizing potion
poured by trembling hands
~~ 10 ~~
going somewhere else
stripping off his uniform—
disgraced general
~~ 11 ~~
Here from somewhere else
I’ve come not by brains or brawn,
but by the Spirit.
~~ 12 ~~
wooden heads laughing—
tonight’s carnival gimmick
luring traffic in
~~ 13 ~~
Of all the engines,
the heart’s glad-sad-bad machine
is the mightiest.
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #222
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