"P" by Olga González Latapí

Photo Credit: Stijn te Strake, obtained and licensed through Unsplash

P

I love until I get home
until I reach

because
I was once from the garden

and

            I have now taken
the free bird who      accom-
panies me

      she
  when the red feathers
she
when the Pearl White feathers

she is

the silver tears

 she walks with me and I almost think I could taste the freedom on my skin

interchangeable from sweat

my freedom almost existent

A lost
permanent

 almost
mine

but at least now my body
bows to it

now
I can see the ancient markings
speaking  out

  they stand on the side of my home
proudly welcoming  mist

 now back
the free bird will
perch right on
top  ,

 of course,

 that is her
perch

and that may be  her onyx chain

but the free bird will be gone by dawn

 she adores the sun you see she adores her lore

   as for me
I will arrange the tu-
lips from my journey on the old bridge

 and wait for the bird to

 pull me away

on another day

come to me

on another
once again

---

Olga González Latapí (she/her/ella) is a pansexual poet with an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. Her work has been published in Sonder Midwest, BARNHOUSE, Wild Roof Journal, and The Nasiona Magazine. She also released a spoken word album with Amaryllis Records.