vilma-vitanza
Raleigh, NC, 27612
Born in Honduras in 1930. Divorced mother of three sons, finding doors closed to my aspirations as a woman, emigrated to the U.S. where I arrived in San Francisco, CA on New Year's Eve, 1967. My sons were left behind under the care of two maternal aunts. / / I came to CA under a contract with UC/Berkeley, where I worked for nineteen years as a research associate in the Dept. of Plant Pathology. I helped organize, and was the head of the laboratory ran by my supervisor, Professor M.N.S. for nineteen years until deleterious chemicals affected my brain. / / During more than ten years of recovery I kept journals and drawings that in 2013 became the source of my book "Fumes & Fine Dust--Working Under Chemical Assault: Neurological Effects." My native language is Spanish.
Are you listening?
Can't you hear the voices of my heart
That call for your attention
To what they have to say?
Are you listening?
The sun is now setting in the sky,
The sounds along the streets are calming down... .
Why is it that you don't listen to the voices of my heart?
- - - - - -
08/19/2015(c)Vilma Vitanza
Oakland, CA
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 9:01 PM UTC
After tossing by my side for a long while
Sleep left me alone tonight.
"I want to walk around the lake," It said,
Swiftly leaving my bed.
I understand why Sleep left me tonight.
It is a quiet time. Quiet. Dark.
When I open the window leading toward the lake
White, puffy clouds cover the stars---
I cannot see a soul.
But on the path going around the lake
I see Sleep in the distance walking away from me.
- - -
08/06/2015(c)Vilma Vitanza
Oakland, CA
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 8:54 PM UTC
Your cap.
Your brown night cap.
Your brown night cap no longer has your scent---
Even your cap betrayed me when you left.
Not much remains of you in this my little house.
Your picture's in the kitchen over the window sill;
Your four shirts, one T-shirt, one handkerchief,
One pair of socks, towels, pajamas,
And the brush I bought for you.
Now, let's see... have I forgotten something
That is not mine but yours?
Oh, yes, your books!
The inventory is almost finished, I believe... .
But, no. I'm not quite done.
There's something else you left, something I cannot return.
They are the memories that we built together,
The bruises in my heart,
The broken dreams, the magic,
The remnants of my youth.
Now, everything is packed and we must say goodbye,
Goodbye to you,
The Spring that came in Winter
The Winter of our lives.
- - - - -
04/31/04(c)Vilma Vitanza
Richmond, CA
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 8:41 PM UTC
I watch you sleep:
At times an occasional sigh
Opens your lips,
Then, you continue to breathe
The breath of Life.
- - -
20/18/04(c)Vilma Vitanza
Richmond, CA
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 8:19 PM UTC
Come, chat with me tonight for the last time
In this house that was mine,
But is now in a stranger's hands.
Come. Let us say goodbye tonight,
And drink tea from the blue cup that we both like.
Remember the old cup you gave me once?
It is the only one that still remains unpacked.
Tonight ghosts from the past will step out from the walls,
With whispers of **********
Laughter of children sounding from room to room,
And we shall smell the scent of herbs
Drifting out from the kitchen where we spent so much time.
Come visit me tonight, my friend,
Help me lighten the burden of my leaving
Now breathing down my neck.
- - -
01/09/99(c)Vilma Vitanza
Albany, CA
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 7:47 PM UTC
He sits across the table in a quiet mood
Holding the paper with both hands,
Concentrated on the daily news.
"Anything good?" I ask.
His lips and eyes smile looking at me.
"There's the sad news,
And then there's the depressing news,"
He says, smiling again.
This time his eyelids, two tired butterflies,
Cover his eyes---I cannot see their smile.
* * *
09/19/2008(c)Vilma Vitanza
Berkeley, CA
Apr 16, 2016
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:30 PM UTC
Such a wise woman----
To see the hidden jewel
In the heavy dross.
-_-
9/17/08(c)Vilma Vitanza
Berkeley, CA
Apr 16, 2016
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:17 PM UTC
Here people stroll,
Wars rage in other lands.
---How blind are humans.
---
9/17/2008(c)Vilma Vitanza
Apr 16, 2016
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:14 PM UTC
Here people stroll,
Wars rage in other lands.
---How blind are humans.
---
9/17/2008(c)Vilma Vitanza
HAIKU II
Such a wise woman
---To see the hidden jewel
In the heavy dross.
- - -
9/17/2008(c)Vilma Vitanza
Apr 16, 2016
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:11 PM UTC
Is our presence on Earth an illusion created by the mind?
If we lived on a different planet
Would we be the same creatures that we are:
Accumulating material things,
Starting wars to satisfy the need for power, or for greed?
If Universal Mind switched our illusion for yet another one,
What then?
^ ^ ^
2009(c)Vilma Vitanza
Apr 15, 2016
Apr 15, 2016 at 7:54 PM UTC