Between the Two of Us
There will always be departure between us,
you, the mirage, a feral dog hunting
for water in the desert.
I, the patriarch of a horde of slaves
in search of a million masculinities.
There will always be melody between us,
you, the laughter of a child
after placing his own foot in his mouth,
I, all the noise that can fit
into forty years of private reflection.
There will always be names between us,
I, the surgeon’s lamp in a psych ward,
you, the first entry in a diary.
Witching the World
Real loneliness is like a window
from wherein you cannot hear a thing.
My loneliness is the tracks
at a train crossing, a damnation
of gunfire and impact. In silence
my name: the instant at which the gods
finally forget to call. I keep thinking,
sing to yourself and survive. Expand
to infinity like a deaf man expands
his voice in a dream.
Sergio A. Ortiz is a gay Puerto Rican poet and the founding editor of Undertow Tanka Review. He is a two-time Pushcart nominee, a four time Best of the Web nominee, and a 2016 Best of the Net nominee. He is currently working on his first full length collection of poems, Elephant Graveyard.