To a poet in old Havana
soy poeta
cigarette dangles blue words rapidly
through trembling lips
soy poeta
image unwrapping, sliding noisy
tourists’ passing:
Obispo street
soy poeta
inscribing being marks self’s
own purpose, listening
soy poeta
in another square, the
revolution, polemic flight
or fight, ideals igualmente
that have left you
hungry poor, reciting here,
the only meaning that remains:
soy poeta
This poem was originally published in Di Leonardo, J. (Ed.), Crossing Baldwin. Toronto: Beret Days Publishing, 2013.