I feel her stir and stroke her hand.
My plan is to sedate her, gently bait her to sleep,
Just a while longer, to somewhere deep,
Where she can keep to her dreams and in those dreams recede.

The seams of this island
Are too fragile for her agile hands.
When she wakes, she shakes mountains,
And tangles the sky by the locks of her hair.
And sighs of rain—alert, at her thunderous applause—
May as well be daggers for the damage they cause.
We’d barely survived her, so I now lay beside her.
I wrap her in lullabies, so life may thrive despite her.

I feel her stir, and stroke her hand.
There was only ever this feeble plan.
The seas are calm; it’s barely dawn.
I hold my breath and she slumbers on.

It is sweet like the middle of May
Moldable like Taino clay
Its juices stick to my skin because it knows about sweet tooths
The cravings crash into my body like waves do the sandy shores that harbor its trees
Shake shake shake
Till 10 fall from the tall tree
I try to grab them all but people weren’t meant to hold that much greatness
My small hands grab the biggest and the smallest
Peeling off its green and orange skin
Letting the sweet juices create art on my body
My teeth sink into sweet orange flesh
Reminding my body that this taste goes back for generations
Who knew fruit could time travel

Donde se mete la mano, se mete la pata

Si me acordara,

en que momento me comencé a quemar en el aceite caliente de los errores

creame, usted que me lee

la hubiera sacado

hubiera perdonado

…me hubieran perdonado.

Después que se cometen los errores, todos te lo advirtieron

Te vieron ahogarte y nada hicieron

o tal vez nada quisiste hicieran

Vi el mundo correr

y del macabro orgullo no me pude desprender.

En esto de las erratas, es fácil recaer

y con mi historial, fogatas se pueden hacer

Más que un tropezón, es una profesión

Si hubiera atendido a tiempo la condición

no tuviera porqué excusarme,

todas estas voces serían fetos

y no tendría que intoxicarme de medicamentos

¿He aprendido algo?

Sí

Si te me acercas mucho, mucho daño te haré.

Además, he aprendido algo esencial…

Donde se mete la mano, se mete la pata.