GENETICS
Twenty-three pairs of poems
Written in me lie
twenty-three pairs of poems,
two reliable versions
of the human being I am.
Written in you lie
deep secrets;
instructions and verses dictate
your colors, features,
lips, sex, and heart.
Written in us lie
infinite mothers we do not know,
fathers and ancestors
who now become part
of the plants you tend.
Written in me lie
labyrinths of offerings
where I would stay
beside love,
only for love to disappear
with the closing door.
Written in you lie
countless letters
with invisible details
you will never imagine.
Broken within us lie
all the promises
that love once made
to all of them:
books erased from within,
poems fleeing in fear,
and once again
indelible hands
drag us towards love,
wide open doors
where the wind rules
and verses blow strong,
and I no longer know if the hallway
is a safer place
than the balcony.
So much has been said,
and the heart
has yet to fall dead.
© Maria Luisa Arenzana Magaña
