Two By M.K. Chavez
The 70's Photograph
My mother smiles and wears polite
pale pink lingerie
with matching slippers.
My pop has gotten her
a decent string of pretend pearls.
The picture has faded now
and the iridescent paint
has chipped off
of the imitation necklace.
It sits in a jewelry box, next
to her lipstick and mascara,
right beneath the mirror
that she doesn't look into
much anymore.
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Untitled
People stay and clouds
merge into the sharpness of blue.
Our eyes meet across the table
keep secrets, the taste
of honeydew melon, green
and red chiles light lips on fire
and after a while the burning disappears
but not completely.
Revolutionaries with brown skin
brown eyes, wicked tongues. Women
who write poetry
and bring their little dogs
to poetry readings.
Salty kisses, dust sets on familiar roads.
Skin absorbs ink, people
become what they are not. Virgins
have children, words
feed the famished. Red glass
in the sunlight. The taste
of wine in your mouth
watermelon juice drips down
on breasts and pink ribbons.
Stargazer lilies bloom
at night. Tongues
tangle together. The chase
and the capture. The sound
of my camera. A stolen moment.
History on city walls, truth.
Step carefully over the sharpness
of rocks on the way to the river.
The steady ping of raindrops. Stillness
repetition and motion. Shiny tin
art, figurines of death
mean life. Sizzling oil
on a cast iron pan, and the way
that my mother fought back.
Words hide meaning.
Hot, spicy chocolate
the way that my skin takes in the sun.
Cinnamon sticks and cinnabar, red
and yellow leaves float
through the air. Fingertips
travel the curves of my body, the texture
of charcoals and pastels
mark an empty canvas, create
something out of nothing.
Struggle and come up for air.
MK Chavez writes about the beauty that can be found in ugliness, the mystery of feeling bad about feeling good, little birds, and big consequences. She is curator of Acker's Dangerous Daughters, a San Francisco reading series of Cherry Bleeds Literary Journal. Her work has been published online and in print. "Virgin Eyes" a chapbook of poetry is available through Zeitgeist Press, a second chapbook, "Visitation" is being published by Kendra Special Editions and is due to be released in March 2008. Other recent and upcoming publications include Zygote In My Coffee, Outsider Writer, Poesy, Snow Monkey, and she recently received Honorable Mention in the Beat Museum Poetry contest. You can find out more about her poetry at www.littlebrownsparrow.com