Poet Special: Works by Helen Vitoria (June 2012 / 12.11)
Helen Vitoria
Poema para Pablo Neruda
Santiago, Chile – 1973
in the courtyard
the moon melts the magnolia
cobblestones bleed desesperado
amarillo love
above a crowd
infinite cantos de los pájaros
stars shatter
still−
one
falls silent
~
October, Again
we were champions, crying false aches
on glitter filled sidewalks of wet leaves
they’re playing our song, can you hear it?
I saw steeples, a lit bridge
beneath it rooftops of Spanish clay
I am sorrow smeared in God’s
fattened moon, the architecture of war
what a sad muscle the mouth becomes
when a feast is starting
and knives fall onto the body
I held nothing back−
other than to say, other than to tell you
I felt, the cold gardenia of morning
rising from your bones
~
Five Pears
The pears are dying. A momentum of green resolved. It’s no
accident that someone has carved an owl in the trunk of one. It’s
no accident that when my brother died my mother sat under
them in static for years. It rained through an entire summer of
sleep and conversation. Sometimes a pillar of boats would lift
its head to us and take a picture of bedrock. A dense silver rot
half filled with wind and song, a sudden shimmer. Beneath, the
dead continued to sleep, while horses grazed towards the ocean.
~
Rossignol
all night, relentless song−
a maddening rush
his little lamenting piercing number
that reminds me
I am still alive
soon there will be a loud
whistling crescendo
along with an impressive trill
filled with native woodnotes
some final masterpiece
of solitude
~
Saudade
now, what remains is a disjointed bed
a harvest elegy to fill the space of conversation
in fields the bruises thaw and the raw cicada
grey from summer commits its skin to litany
−defies the man in walls, the man that came from snow
his heart, the core sound I still hear
when I press my ear to the water
Author’s note: saudade : Pronunciation:/saʊˈdɑːdə/
(Portuguese) a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia, a deep emotional state
* * *
Author’s commentary: I have always been fascinated with the human condition and interpersonal relationships. I write about the things which affect me, which affect all of us. Most times, I find that contemporary poetry touches or skims the surface but does not deeply enter the human condition. The poetry that appeals to me personally is that which takes risks and reaches deeper into those things that make us tick.
Absolutely stunning; each piece.
I’m glad you enjoyed these poem.
“I am sorrow smeared in God’s / fattened moon”
Helen Vitoria’s poetry is special. How great to have an entire issue of Blue Fifth Review devoted to her work.
Those are strong lines, Bill. It’s great to have this feedback for the special issue.
Beautiful work Helen
I’m glad you enjoyed this issue, Gloria.
tired of reading the same old banal, cliche, unimaginitive poetry that doesn’t challenge your senses and emotions in the millions of online zines? Well click up above and be prepared to be wowed by Helen Vitoria’s 5 poems.
Hope you enjoy these poems, David.
Gorgeous. Iloved especially the poem for Neruda.
I’m taken by the Neruda poem myself. Glad you enjoyed these, Marcus.
Neruda is great, they all are. Rossignol blows me away the most – it is so pure.
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