CLS Sandoval

Late Night Swim

 

Deep in the water, I decided to open my eyes.  They always told me that these waters were enchanted.  I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a mermaid or a siren, but instead, some kind of monster started chasing me.  I had a moment to take a breath from the surface when my foot caught on it.  It was either this deep-water thing or the current pulling me down.  I struggled and splashed until I realized I was wasting my breath, being pulled down.

 

Nothing enchanted

No, not that kind of magic

More like angler fish

 

Lignum Vitae

 

Tiffany slept on the beach outside

with her best friend

while Mom was desperate

to keep her boyfriend Bill

on the phone with her

sad that they were separated

by distance and time zones

 

The girls ended up eaten alive

by sand fleas

and Mom hardly even noticed

 

Nana kept beckoning Mom

to join the middle school girls

on the beach

but Mom was glued to a phone

 

Nana watched the girls

during their scuba lessons

and excursion out toward the coral

diving to see the colorful schools of fish

 

As they approached the shore

the white sandy Negril beach greeted them

the horizon slightly to the north and south

dotted with the Wood of Life

 

The Lignum Vitae

with its beautiful blue flowers

could not be left alone

when Columbus saw it

 

Rather it was torn apart

and repurposed for

its medicinal qualities

its strength supporting ships

to sail away from its home

or fashioned into ornate curios

to be purchased and taken by the tourists

 

I wasn’t there

 

Tiffany needed care and attention

like the delicate flowers

along Jamaica’s shore

but I was too busy

hosting a drunken party

for my 18th birthday

 

My sister came home

scratching and scarred

from fleas and neglect

and I was too drunk to notice

Lilies Under My Feet

 

At Balboa Park, when I was six or seven, I wanted to walk across the pond in front of the Japanese garden.  The man-made pond with the lilies and lily pads on it.  My mom and dad cautioned me to stay on dry land.  I could lean over to look at the koi fish if I wanted to, but only a little.  I sat on the side, and reached toward the lily pad nearest me.  It was already broken free from its stem and browning, so I picked it up. It was dying from its disconnection to its roots. At the moment I lifted it from the water, my dad snapped a photo of me.  I was accustomed to these candid photo opps.  He liked to paint our family from photos.  He used watercolor and took plenty of liberties with the paint, trying to make the images a bit whimsical.  When he painted the moment with the lily, I was hoping the whimsy would come in the form of making the lily a deep green or painting me with the lily pads under my feet.  Instead, my skin was a light violet and the lily was its actual brown.