12 septiembre 2002

For Charlie

A slow, flat wave
peeling gently toward the sand

or a fast, hollow tube
booming, throwing spray from its mouth

which will you be
my lover
mi novio
and which will you make of me?

____________________________________________________________________________________

Horses and Rainbows

To sleep
perhaps to dream?
Of horses and rainbows
Of olives and oysters
Of lovers gone

"For Charlie" -- Charlie Who?
Charlie-I'm-Gone-But
-You-Can't-Forget-Me
My Smile?
Dripping seawater across your breast
Brown taut skin
The Rio...

It's always the wrong ones that love us
Or the right ones that leave us.

You can't get homesick if you have no home
When home is where you park the car,
open the suitcase
turn on the fan.
The beach you walk,
the rain that falls on your shoulders.
The friend with whom you spend the night,
the curve of his back,
the smell of his skin.
Home.

But a home can't just walk away.
Or you'll get homesick.