Poem published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Spring-Summer issue 2022. Beltway Poetry Quarterly is an award-winning online literary journal and resource bank that showcases the literary community in Washington, DC and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region.
My dear friend is in dark meditation,
his soul in sorrow, I can tell
He is praying to the Gods he knows
the elephant-headed Ganesha
Son of Siva and Parvati
The remover of obstacles
Heis calling my name in Tamil
French Creole Spanish
Sanskrit even in Aramaic
He is a citizen of the world, you know
Nevertheless an outsider.
He leaves a voice message
He hardly notices he is speaking in French
Even though he is not in Haiti anymore
“Bisous”, he says before his mellow voice
Is lost again in his dark meditation.
And I cannot help the thought
Of each of his beloveds who have
heard his sweet sad mouth saying
Kisses instead of giving them.
His mission has sent him
Far far away
And his island is about to sink.
We would never know
If his body will rest in peace
At the bottom of the sea along
With the remains of Atlantis
Or if a brand-new spacecraft
Would bring him back home finally
As we would never know for sure
How much were the Russians involved
In Mexico’s elections nor in any other’s
And we would have to accept
The fact that while Frida nagged Diego
About his affair with her sister,
The Flower Girl, his ex-wife, the groupie,
She was getting laid with Trotsky.
© Ana Márquez, 2023.
Ana Márquez 