who is not invited to exotic
poetry festivals in cultural capitals, not
celebrated for his otherness, not
for the soothing justice
that emanates from his professionally
__translated words, not
for the clapping of the audience when he reads
and they see the scaffolding of a pristine soul
To be that poet who loves
the colors and the sounds and the smells
and the people,
and writes “beautiful” in a beautiful language
To be that poet who loves
the sanctity of simple words when they sail an honest breath
To be the one whose dearest words
are thin and tenuous like singing ice