Angels on High

Will angels run and hide if I decide to consider that there is no God?
Or will they circle around me and pray that I will change my mind?

I close my eyes and dance around and around till I fall into a trance.
I feel them near me, from beginning to end of me, echoing their thoughts through me.
My heart fills with fervor and I fall to my knees and weep.

I do believe there is a God. To renounce him is to reject my own existence.
I could never wage war against him for he is greater than I.

I will seize the wings of the morning sunlight as it opens and approaches my window
and kneel to pray for his forgiveness and protection.
I will put my soul in his care.

I pray that when my demise arrives I will feel the presence of angels in my midst.
That their wings may fold around me, embrace me and carry me to heaven.
And God's angels on high will rejoice.

An Ocean Apart

No ocean is wide enough to separate two souls.
No sky is high enough to contemplate the possibilities of our hopes to embrace.
Where you are so am I. The same moon and stars are yours and mine when we wish
upon them at night.
As I ponder, I reflect, could it all be real and yet I wept.

I no longer feel the bars and concrete that could disconnect my heart from you.
You flow in my blood like a fish at sea, free to drive the miles where he finds shelter in me.
Let me wonder into the deepest place of your heart and let me live in there that I may find
my own soul living in yours.
I seek the truth and I pray you are mine.
That I may seek the truth that lies beneath the rubles of your soil, that your earth may be
where I find refuge from the hell of my doubts.

To reach you is what I wish.
To know the man within is what I desire.
To desire you is to punish my soul, for I burn each day a little bit more.
No love could be greater than the one I yearn to bestow upon thee.
Hold it firmly and consider it well.
Care for it gently, be kind when you find it.
Let it seep deep within the shadows of your dreams and let them come alive.

I Think of You

I think of you on cold, windy, clear October afternoons.
I wonder where you are and whom you are with.
What are you doing these days and are you all right?

I remember how we held hands and walked the crowded streets talking and laughing,
going somewhere and anywhere.
We used to stroll by the seaport and watch the boats go by.

I think of you on dark, foggy, rainy mornings.
We slept late under warm wool covers, embracing and softly, gently kissing each other's lips.

I think of you when the air is crisp and the leaves have turned brown, orange and gold.
The warm smiles, the enduring mirth, the tight embraces and extended kisses I miss.

I remember your soft, strong hands and your handsome face so often I did caress.
Lord! Is it cold and hollow here without you.

I think of you when the snow falls and all is quiet and still.
I no longer hear your footsteps through my open door nor do I hear your voice call out my name.

I think of you at night when the wind blows hard and there is total silence in my heart.
I become restless to see you, to hear you and feel you again.

I struggle to fill this void you have left in me with something that will lift me back into the stars
we once adored together.

I think of you as I close my eyes to pray. I whisper your name, I quietly chant it over and over again and through my tears I pray that the Lord will know what I want to say.

Finally my simple, humble words appear and I say, "Lord, guide every step he takes, protect him
from harm, may he find peace within his soul and may he know I will always love him no matter where he may find himself".

My Poetry

And so it was that Poetry entered in search of me. I don't know why nor do I know where it came from. Maybe from anger or loneliness. I don't know how or when.

There were voices deep within. There were words streaming up my blood. Ghost summoned me from the past, echoes in the night called me in my sleep. From others, from feelings, from violent screams in my head.

Alone, there I was without a thought yet it found me. I did not know what to say or how to say it. My mouth was closed and silent. I had no way with words.

I could not see but I could sense. And something shook my soul.
A passion to construct a word that would lead me to a road.
And so I found my place from paths forgotten.

Learning to divide and compose. Learning to feel and see. And I wrote the first word and then the first line, powerless, without body, childish, pure knowledge of someone who knows nothing.

Suddenly I felt my heart open, my spirit rise and all was one inside of me. My heart perforated, chills erupted and all my words joined to manifest themselves in me. I engraved them upon old paper with weak ink. Rhymes and riddles, questions and answers. Fire, rain and arrows, flowers, butterflies, love and hate, the winding road, the night and the sun.

Indefinitely I was driven to write till all had been said. But there was more inside of me. Intoxicated with great brilliant inspiration, no void, likeness nor image of neither mystery nor misery. I was bursting with words I didnÕt even know.

I had converted into the dream and the fantasy of all my lifetime. I charged at the stars, the moon and the sun and finally my heart broke free onto the open sky and onto the open sea. I was finally free.

To Build

The innocence of your eyes tells a story deep within your soul.
A brave heart beats in your chest with courage untold.

Your wondrous eyes have dreams to fulfill.
Your mind turns and swirls, thinking of things to build.

You build upon visions of color and shapes.
Steal and iron run through your veins.

Man of rock , man of soil, unearth the roots and walk by foot.
Measure and level each step you take, concrete is your bate.

With fate you wait and now you build.

Build from stone and build from mud.
Build from earth, wind and fire.
Build from imagination and leave your mark upon this world.

Today the Air smelled like Autumn

I saw the ball of gray smoke violently rise into the sky. In that shape of smoke I could swear I saw a giant face with his cheeks fully puffed out as if he were trying to blow away from the scene but the nature of his act would not allow him to. So he raced his way towards the people with great force, making no excuses.

I walked the streets the next day and looked at faces of passersby. Such serious and sad looks from almost everyone I looked at. For the first time we were all together in mourning. We all agreed that what had happened affected each and every one of us tremendously. Somehow we still avoided looking into each others eyes as usual but this time it was for fear that the pain would be so great that we would break down and cry.

It's all too painful. It's tough to deal with this great loss. We've lost so many lives. People we don't know and some we do know and we've lost them. We might have sat next to them on the trains or walked past each other every morning, maybe we had been in an elevator with them. We might have exchanged a few words about the weather or something. And now they're gone. They're not with us anymore. They've disappeared from sight. I'm sorry I didn't catch their names. I'm sorry I didn't decide to keep some sort of friendship with them.

The streets felt quiet today and even somewhat lonely and desolate. It felt like a holiday where most people stay home but it wasn't a holiday. I felt strange. I felt like someone in my family had passed away. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. There was emptiness, a void where once there had been a sense of security. I felt depressed and mentally exhausted. I dressed in black without even noticing I had. I walked slowly with my head low, like if I were walking behind a long line of coffins.

I've made the sign of the cross every morning since when in the past it had never crossed my mind. I've prayed every night before I go to sleep when before I never bothered. I made it a point to go to church this Sunday and plan to go every Sunday when then it really didn't matter to me. My life has changed. I'm not the same person I was a week ago. I don't think I'll ever be.

We've hung the American flag out on our doors and out our windows, a symbol of our country, freedom, a symbol of our unity as a country with great hope for the future. We are America and we will always be America. America is a state of mind. It is the people who make America what it is and what it stands for. We, as a free people, will never disappear.
Our freedom will never be taken from us.

I wear a small flag on a button on my blouse. It was given to me when my grandfather passed away. He came to this country from Cuba in the forties and he always told me that America is the greatest country in the world. There's no other country like it and there will never be one like it. I have to tell you that this rings true in all our hearts today.

Today the air smelled like autumn for the first time. Amidst all the smoke, the tears and broken hearts, it felt like autumn was pushing its way into the city to let us know that nothing stops life from continuing. As long as we live, as long as we move towards a better life and as long as we are here on this planet, the seasons will change and we will move forward.

NYC - September 14, 2001

When

When the summer heat is gone,
the sun that drenched my dress with sweat is completely gone;
your love will still be mine to keep.
And when fall sneaks behind me, by winter you'll be beside me.
My dear heart you mean so much to me.

Though many miles are between us now and shadows of clouds surround me;
I know that I will feel your lips on my cheek.
Time will only tell how strong this love will hold.
Your vow to be near me soon I keep, I hold it in my fist.
Despite my sadness, despite my aching heart and the tears,
I still will wait for you even if it takes a thousand years.

I count the days till that moment,
When I hear the echo of your voice calling my name.
I will no longer cry or fear for you will be here.
That marvelous day, those precious hours you and I will embrace.

My love, fate has brought us together.
The love we share is strong.
It is never too late to love as we love now.

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Words Unspoken

The thoughts contained are thoughts of passion,
Where just yesterday we might have fashioned.

I know that in the time allotted we could speak the unspoken,
Yet feelings so intense are better revealed than unsaid.

And now that you are here I prefer to whisper in your ear.
Your body oh so near makes me wonder do I fear?

My love for you is so immense and I want nothing more than to confess.
My hands sweat and I pant, oh God will I faint?

The smell of your hair penetrates the air.
I want to touch you, kiss you; do I dare?

I cannot continue this evasion of my hearts emotion.
Give me a sign and I will reply.

The time escapes us, my dear will you hear me?
You stand, you walk away and I dare not say.

My heart confesses secretly that I cannot live without you.
Some day, somehow I will tell you that I love you.

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