Rain and Sound

by Sergio Ortiz

Listen to me as one listens to the rain:
we are distracted once again.  Night
approaches with its dense cloak of fear,
an assault for which there is no cure.
It is never winter here,
yet the hibiscus have been censored
like men trying to show their affection
for each other.  Air, water, and flower —
there is no weight in these words.
Night has the figurations of mist.
Listen to me as one listens to the rain:
(Censor my desire for writing you poems.)
Not attentive, not distracted, only as if
I were the rain.  Hear me out until
the asphalt is wet.  You are you
in night steam.  You enter my eyes
as your steam crosses the street.
We are both steam.  Steam of another
censored flower.

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Sergio Ortiz is a retired educator, poet, painter, and photographer.  He has a B.A. in English literature, and a M.A. in philosophy.  Flutter Press released his debut chapbook, At the Tail End of Dusk, in October of 2009.  Ronin Press released his second chapbook, topography of a desire, in May of 2010.  Avantacular Press released his first photographic chapbook, The Sugarcane Harvest, in May of 2010. He is a three time nominee for the 2010 and 2011 Sundress Best of the Net anthology and a 2010 Pushcart nominee.

Photography: Rainy Day Blessing, by Rosa Say.