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Anthem
Radames Ortiz
We march
on rainbows
Bleed nightlight
and curse predications
Sorrowed we live
below burnt stars,
below thick
stink of oil
all around
We are
ghost towns-
well past
blurred signs
We are faces
hung heavy
and beautiful
for what
is not there
Days Like Diamonds
Radames Ortiz
I float from day to day, a phantom, an exquisite ghost
haunting alleyways, side streets, corridors
where all is dark, a denial of light, a suspension of color
And yet, there are moments, days that catch the light,
days like diamonds
And these moments, these days bridge
the order of things, the want, the need to
go on, to push forward in blackness
These long hours of time, these lingering
thoughts of space, a language on the rampage,
an instrument of discovery
Beyond the luminous smile of stars, beyond
the bright grins that awaken the earth
these days, these moments send
my heart whirling in flames
Ed Says
Radames Ortiz
God, hold me tight
Don’t let open
your arms, so
I can swim
in heaven’s
eternal blue
Let your heart
rock my sleep
into blossom
Nowadays,
headlines read:
Souls Purchased,
one night only!
But Lord, they
won’t find
no bargain sale
’cause people
here done
sold themselves
long ago
Woman Humming in City Library
Radames Ortiz
She weaves in & out
Of bookshelves, like
A slick cat in the alleyways
Her lips pressed blue
As she hums Amazing Grace
Into spines of books
Her tongue vibrating
Like corrugated rooftops
Her teeth marks on
Everything she loves.
Past biographies of
Monroe & Bogart.
Past city maps, past
The blue of a globe
Her voice, a siren
In the throat while
She falls into flesh
& blooms notes of love
On the inside of cheeks
Wiring Money
Radames Ortiz
In Levis jeans you
crouch over counter,
chained pen in hand.
Sender’s Name: your
abuelo’s face
written in blue ink.
Receiver: all of Naranjos
pueblo del sol.
Undocumented, you
charge primed Chevies to
strip paint, cut weeds,
move furniture, lay concrete.
Send money to Mexico.
Dinero en minutos.
1,000 sunsets dead
on streets of Texas.
Por Favor Escribe/Please Print
your sadness on shovels
that gut earth, that split
roots in two & receive
smiles from women with
eyes, glassy as jewels.
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