Giber

Looked at my father and did not think him weak

When is the last time I ate cereal for breakfast

Or went outside

Or held someone’s hand

When is the last time I cried

Really wept

Or knew why I was getting out of bed

When is the last time I saw you

When is the last time I loved

Looked at someone at did not simply think them beautiful

But wondered what it would be like for that beauty to choose me

When is the last time someone looked at me and I blushed

Not because I felt ashamed but because

Their gaze tasted like possibility

Like a honeymoon in library

When is the last time I felt

Excited

When is the last time I wanted

And was hurt by disappointment

When is the last time my heartbreak fissured the earth

Instead of simply burying me deeper in endless night

When is the last time I let someone take from me until I was empty

And sat with that hollow until I was rebirthed

When is the last time I was a child

When is the last time I was alone and felt lonely

When is the last time I wrote a poem?

It has been so long

So

Long

Francisco Domingo Marqués (1842-1920)

Un lance, siglo XVII

♪ Sana, sana, colita de rana / Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana ♪