Poetry: Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

* Author of the Month *

Breakfast with Lorca

Tuesday morning,
blueberries, banana
slices, fresh strawberries
from the farmer’s market.

Poet in Spain, new
translations of Lorca
rests on my kitchen
table, a spinach omelet,

a half cup of coffee.
Andalusian horses
gallop in the pages.
Taking the reins,

horsemen in blue and
green suits. I taste
the fruit on my plate,
as Lorca’s guitar sobs.

I turn the page and find
the colors, red, blue,
green, and yellow in
the poems and on my plate.

Shadow Birds

Where feathers fall
shadows are born
and magical birds
are formed from
those fallen feathers.

Somewhat identical
to the birds that
lost their feathers,
these birds are different.
They are born from shadows.

Blue Sea

In a blue sea, blood,
streams of it,
leaps with the waves.
I tried to reach you tonight.
You were away.
Woman, is this your blood?

Apparently, you
are a mermaid
or a siren,
some otherness, who knows.

In a blue sea, on
the shore, within view
of all that pass,
I walk by you.

I gaze at your blood,
streams of it,
a metallic blade
in the back of your
neck, and I tried so hard.
I tried to reach you tonight.

Carry Your Head

After E. E. Cummings

Carry your head
around before
the birds swoop in
and take it where
you can’t find it
ever again.

Carry your small
head in your hands
before the birds
fly away with
it and drop it
in the ocean.

Carry your small
miniscule head
in your pocket
before the birds
come for it and

drop it into
the ocean where
the fish will feast
on it. I know
it cannot swim.

Like Animals

We are not like animals.
We are much worse.
The day we learned to kill

it was all over.
We are always up to same
old tricks and mayhem.

We are not like animals.
We need everything
never thinking we will run out.

We want it all. The grass
is always greener at
the other side in our mind.

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Bio: Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal, born in Mexico, lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His first book of poetry, Raw Materials, was published by Pygmy Forest Press. His latest chapbook, Make the Light Mine, was published by Kendra Steiner Editions. His poetry has appeared in Bold Monkey, Kritya Poetry Journal, and 2River View.

Setu, March 2019