Welcome to Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal!

Photograph by Gardner Soule (Public Domain)

Tonight Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal has poems for all seasons.  Given the sweltering weather, I'll start with his winter poem.   It will cheer up those of you who miss the cold.  For everyone else, it will remind you that summer weather is not the only bad weather we face.

In the Snow

In the snow

and blowing wind

you became intoxicated

by inhaling the snow and wind.

Your footsteps 

were easy to trace

in the white snow, abominable 

snowman, I knew those giant feet

from my years of following you.

I recognized 

your footsteps and

I had a feeling that you

were close by, you fell and

crawled with gentleness, I could

trace your every move in the snow.

I knew you meant no harm to me

or to the life of anybody else.

You hid yourself 

in the ice somewhere.

The snow sheltered you.

I grew wistful, pensive, and

filled with a peculiar happiness.

I watched your

footsteps, I could trace

your movements in the snow.

Photograph by Matthew Paul Argall

Harsh World: The Branch

I am the one you should

forget.

I am like the insignificant 

objects.

I am like a small branch

fallen from

the body of a tree.

This harsh world

is making a mess

of my body.

It finds its way inside.

It feels so cold

at times and

unexpectedly 

it finds another body

inside my body. It’s love 

I have isolated in there.

I feel less than whole

at times. The sun

draws near

and it does not

make a difference.

I reached my limit of

warmth. I feel a cold

presentiment

in my body

that cannot make it

through this harsh world.

It is so cold.

My heart complains

as it sleeps and dreams

of a different world.

I could go there,

shed my skin,

flex my muscles.

It is just a dream

of a desperate soul.

Like the body of a tree

and the fallen branch,

I am the branch.

For a moment

I am its essence,

compost in the yellow fields.

Photograph by Mehrab Pourfaraj

Summer, 1989

When I was brought down to earth 

summer was nearly gone,

autumn scratched at the surface,

and I had planted my heart

deep in soil that would not let love grow.

When we parted the sky was gray

and the leaves began to change colors.

Each day I slept late because she was

gone with the wind. It was not until 

then,

when I found my raw materials.

It so happens that the soil softened,

the heart hardened, and I found love

in the bird’s songs, the yellow leaves,

and the scattered clouds about to burst.

I stopped searching for reasons 

things did not work out just like I wanted.

That is just how things happen sometimes.

Always Dream

Open your eyes and dream.

It could be day, or it could be night.

To paraphrase what Jose Marti said, “always dream.”

Dream on my friends.

Dream far and wide.

Let the dreams roll like the waves at sea.

Dream past the dunes in the desert sand.

Joyously dream away.

A humble dream is all you need.

Swing for the fences with a mighty dream.

Dream with a kind heart.

Dream like the child you once were.

The dream is calling for you.

If I Was Not a Man

If I was not a man,

I might want to be a bird.

I would have a small head

and a beak instead of a nose.

I would fly and sing.

I would eat smaller portions.

I would sleep in a nest.

I would enjoy the scenery.

I would have no hands.

I think I like wings better.

I would be flying for miles 

all day and all of the night.

I would not read books.

I would read the leaves and trees.

I would pay no taxes.

I would not owe any bills.

I wouldn’t have to drive.

That would be all right with me.

I would fly transcontinental.

I would go without paying a dime.

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Born in Mexico, Luis lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poetry books and chapbooks have been published by Alternating Current Press, Deadbeat Press, Kendra Steiner Editions, New Polish Beat, Poets Democracy, Pygmy Forest Press, and Ten Pages Press (e-book). His recent poems have appeared in Blue Collar Review, Misfit Magazine, and ZYX.

Let's start with the Funklovers' "Cloud of Memories":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2s-3lHuRKc

From here I'll move on to Roy Hargrove's "I Thought about You":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10IlOJKX0MQ

Surprisingly, I haven't posted anything by Nicholas Payton (that I recall), but here is his version of "Round Midnight":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znsgoKJRUtE

My husband has been playing a lot of Etienne Charles lately, so I'll finish with his version of Bob Marley's "Turn Your Lights Down Low":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yeu5UDL_mA

Enjoy!