Questions for the Night I Said I Love You

By ALDO AMPARÁN

 

Is he a saguaro burning in the desert’s shadow—or a sidewinder’s tracks on sand—

Have I left footprints in the snow of his dreaming—

Has he dressed his dead in marigold & fed them sweet bread—(have I—)

Are his hands two blades of light slicing open your dimming—

O moon, o cloud, o wind rattle. O luminous night, how long can you linger—

Cross the desert & the sea—past a month, a decade—my palm’s brief & dusty lifeline—

 

Aldo Amparán is the author of Brother Sleep, winner of the 2020 Alice James Award. Born and raised in the border cities of El Paso, Texas, USA, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, they have received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and CantoMundo. Their work most recently appeared in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, AGNI, New England Review, Ploughshares, Southeast Review, and elsewhere.

[Purchase Issue 23 here.]

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

Questions for the Night I Said I Love You

Related Posts

Cloudy sunset over field.

Florida Poems

EDWARD SAMBRANO III
I will die in Portland on an overcast day, / The Willamette River mirroring clouds’ / Bleak forecast and strangers not forgetting— / Not this time—designer raincoats in their closets. / They will leave for work barely in time / To catch their railcars. It will happen / On a day like today.

Two Poems by Hendri Yulius Wijaya

HENDRI YULIUS WIJAYA
time and again his math teacher grounded him in the courtyard to lower / the level of his sissyness. the head sister chanted his name in prayer to thwart // him from playing too frequently with girl classmates. long before he’s enamored with the word / feminist