Island
or House Michelle Valladares
1.
Imperceptible, when
a caterpillar senses
the time to spin is near.
Memories appear
as shadows or
scent of jasmine, rose.
My grandfather died
when I was two,
his garden on his clothes.
A brittle cactus flower
thrives in the desert.
A scorpion stings once a year.
To escape a tidal wave
a pregnant girl
must choose
the highest point
of island or house.
Later, a ribbon, kelp
are clues
some one or thing
entered the cocoon,
left blackened spots,
on the monarch's wing.
2.
The time to spin is near.
Memories appear
as shadows.
Who died when I was two
thrives in the desert.
A year lives in the desert.
A pregnant girl,
sea, a tidal wave
the highest point
kelp,
s b e a c h
one has entered the cocoon
spots wing
Someone
left on a monarch's wing
blackened marks.
© Michelle Valladares
Michelle
Yasmine Valladares's poems have been published by The Womens
Review of Books, Global City Review, and 7
Carmine. She has others forthcoming in The North American
Review and Risen From the East: An Anthology. She is currently
seeking a publisher for her recently completed work Nortada, The
North Wind.
Valladares holds an MFA from Sarah
Lawrence College. She teaches at the City College of New York and the
School of Visual Arts. She lives in Brooklyn, close to the sea.
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