Poetry: Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Born in Mexico, Luis, lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles, CA. His poetry, poetry books, and poetry chapbooks have appeared in Blue Collar Review, Borderless Journal, Deadbeat Press, Fearless, Kendra Steiner Editions, New Polish Beat, Poet’s Democracy, Propaganda Press, Pygmy Forest Press, Ten Pages Press, Unlikely Stories. His latest poetry book, Make the Water Laugh, was published by Rogue Wolf Press.

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Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Days and nights

The days and nights do not slow down.

The sun and moon race each other.

They do not want to lose the race.

They are as quick as lightning.

Each are like a rabbit on Adderall.

Each are like breeze too fast to contain.

The days and nights are like frenetic trains.

The moon cannot keep up.

The sun drops like an anchor.

The days and nights do not slow down.

My anxiety builds as I fight sleep.

All I want is a moment of rest.

Time is not on my side.

Time has not ever been my friend.

***

The road without end

I can feel the heft.

The smallest monument

in my hand; a stone,

a rock, a pebble, a

grain of sand light

as a feather.

It blinds me. The sun.

The scorching light in

my eyes; a flame,

a lit match, the flash

from a camera

late at night.

My back is against 

it. The wall behind me 

and the sword in front;

a blade sharp as a

killer’s wit, thrusting

it with such glee.

I am almost there.

The road without end;

my shoes without soles,

blistered feet walking

on glass and fire,

dripping blood. 

***

Darkness in light

There is darkness 

in light and 

in between 

dusk and dawn.

There is suffering 

in death and

also in life.

I have seen it.

Winter and spring,

summer and fall,

darkness comes

together.

There is man,

woman, and child

linked to 

darkness and light.

Our time comes

to an end

mercilessly 

as the candle

blows out. It 

could be the wind

or our very

own breath that

brings darkness 

to light. This

suffering,

too must end.

***

Shadow and light

After Jean Genet

I stand between shadow and light 

and in darkness some of the time.

When I am in the light I feel exposed. 

I try to stay away from the light as 

much as possible. A lot of darkness 

is another thing. I prefer the shadows.

In the shadows there is a bit of light 

and a bit of shade. I like being there.

If I could be a shadow, that would 

be something else, if just for an hour.

When that time comes, I hope I am

half-shadow and half-life. It is the

darkness I fear, where I have become 

half-man and half-wolf in nightmares.

***

Like clockwork

Take a close look at your heart,

like clockwork, its beat is steady,

it runs at all hours, and sometimes

it needs a little jolting to start.

It feels all the pain in the world.

I have felt it. Haven’t you? I can

feel the pain after it has gone

away once I think about it in my

mind. The pain lingers even if I

feign wellness. Sometimes I feel

this will be my last day. I have the

heart of a poet who feels and feigns.

***

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Setu, December 2021