{ Ryka Aoki de la Cruz: Before the Last Dance. }

[delga]

Before the Last Dance
by Ryka Aoki de la Cruz

I do not deserve to be saved, for
I am not in love with salvation.
My lovers fold like old
newspapers, converse like a car
with a broken radio.

They stumble in old sneakers
that no longer match any outfits,
or even any sports.

Their kitchen cabinets are slashed
where they danced with malt liquor
and butcher knives.

No one who loves me
should handle cutlery
while beholding the cosmos.

I am a fish who appreciates
a good fish stick.
Murder me, and part of me
is your partner in sin.
My anger comes from every second
you cannot see the lotus, rising

from the silt, the offal. Believe.
When the radio and the dharma
and the blood have not become one,
dig your nails into my forearms,
your teeth deep into my thigh.

My lover took 48 years
to put on a lipstick and dress,
and for the rest of his life
will know what it means
to be beautiful. Believe.

Break our wine glass and
fill it with hope. As a fragment
opening to candlelight.
Believe.

--

My lovers fold like old / newspapers, converse like a car / with a broken radio. "and you, you stand in doorways / bright with the love of strangers".