| Un Poema Argentino |
for Frank who demanded it
1. Chicago
he cuts the chicken up & peels away
its skin pepper salt & tarragon he slices
celery stalks dices carrots boils
rice mixes flour w/bread crumbs I can
hear him in the kitchen rinsing out a pot a
pan a measuring cup storing away each
utensile when the cooking is done: spoons
knives forks in the next room I listen to
Mercedes Sosa remind me of the simple things
left behind inevitably devoured by time
& distance: por eso muchacho no partas ahora
soñando el regreso que el amor es simple
y a las cosas simples las devora el tiempo
2. Buenos Aires
When they came one cloudy summer morning
for her neighbor across the street she
had been standing at the front door: her gaze
lost in thoughts of her newborn sone. She
knew then that sooner or later they would
come for her too just like they had
for her best friend who probably didn't live
long enough to suffer who probably
took one of those tiny pills she always
carried in her pocket. She knew then she
was certain that she had to leave to dis-
appear before they dit it for her: she took
her son and her brown leather valise boarding
a train for that place in the hills she
had visited so many summer before Traveling from
a small town to the country next door she
lived out of single rooms and never slept watching
through the window every night and every day.
sun spills its light on the floor warming
his bare feet and thighs in the kitchen
life goes on undisturbed while nurtured by
his meal I feed on songs from
the past & remember: Buenos Aires on
sunny Sunday mornings when I was twelve
Mother made chicken with rice Father
read the newspaper the trees whose tiny purple
flowers visited my window each spring & the night
sky covered with stars... exile
is a difficult job: the hours are interminable
& the pay never sufficient nevertheless I go on
feeding on songs and baked chicken
a long way from home
but alive
- Beatriz Badikian
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