Issue 59 — Ventura Valdez Poetry Contest (2013)

Joseph Baldi Acosta

Winner of the 2013 Ventura Valdez English Poetry Award

We boarded the shiny car under la Guera's

careful watch. The Limited lurched from the station,

passed hills that border East L.A., accelerating, slicing

the Mojave, blurred outlines of yuccas and tumbleweeds

near the tracks, home and the overcast sky far behind.

Tranquilized by constant heartbeat of iron upon iron,

the Limited rocked us to sleep. The train caught its

breath on short stops -- Yuma, Phoenix, Tucson, as it ran

with the night to encounter the sun. Guera awakened us

before red and orange mountains swallowed the train.

It strained, climbed, emerged from the cliffs like a

serpent -- the last cars visible on tenuous tracks winding

high above Ysleta and the Rio Grande. My sister and I

walked into a warm sun consoled and wrapped in the love

of our Mexican family. For 30 days we escaped the

painful, permanent void that awaited.

*The Southern Pacific Sunset Limited.

Winner of the 2013 Ventura Valdez Spanish Poetry Award

Hoy pienso……..

Hubo días en que pasé hambre

e intenté engañar al hambre durmiendo,

pensándote, soñándote. Tengo hambre de ti.

Hambre de tu boca, de tu voz,

de tu cabello, de tus ojos risueños,

de tu piel, de tu cuerpo.

¡Quiero comer el aura de tu hermosura!

tomarme el cóctel de tus labios,

la nariz soberana del arrogante rostro más tierno del mundo.

Quiero comer la sombra fugaz de tus pestañas. Tu mirada.

Hambriento estoy, vengo y voy olfateando

tu aroma, como un perro, siguiéndote el rastro.

Buscando tu corazón, anheloso,

como un puma acechando a su presa.

Aún no consigo un bocado de ti,

haciendo de mi vida un ayuno.