Crooning Milk

Drinking out of the bottle.
Cold milk pouring down the corner
Of your mouth,
Like a white morning spring.

You use the tip of your sleeve
To try to contain it;
A tethering touch, a dam
At the tip of your tongue.

And you wait for the kettle to croon,
At cockcrow,
Like a hot morning stream.
Warm water sunrise melody.

Sizzling springs and mesmerizing
Coffee pots.
Crystal cereal crispy waiting
For the sudden sodden flood.

Sitting in front of your PC,
Soaking it all in,
Breathing deeply for the first time today.
It's morning folks,
Go get a glass of OJ!

A.

Laundry Laureate

Numb elbow,
Cotton arm,
Sometimes I cycle myself in the warm.

I centrifuge my mind.

Anti-wrinkle spin.

New label
Softener born,
Sometimes I fold myself back to front.

I iron my mind.

A hit of steam.

Going back home,
Returning to the hole.
Sometimes a I drown myself in a machine's womb.

I drain my mind.

A drop of bleach.

Rinsed grammar,
And shrunk verses.
Sometimes I lose myself in artificial mazes.

I whiten my mind.

A

Para Diego

Te has acostumbrado los ojos

a mirar, como hacen los valientes,

directo a la luz,

al tiempo que yo rechazo

despegarme la sábana,

e invento,

excusas (tan de otoño)

enfrentando mi cuerpo a la mentira

hasta vencer las piernas

al salir

y convencerte que es un día más.



Tal vez ahora lleguemos a entendernos

aunque ya no recuerde

el sabor de un cumpleaños.

A?

Felicidades, Diego, te regalo un poema, tu poema, pero cambiado, alejandrado.
Me gustó mucho. Quizás sí tengas que celebrar tus años.

Homecoming Homegoing

Ten guests for breakfast

all wearing jeans and sweaters.

Blue, golden, yellow.

Wakey, wakey, 

eggs and bakey.

One intruder

showering in the dark,

rejecting the mimosa kiss,

not raising the bar. 

She's not awake yet.

She crawls, she moans.

She gives away a pork smile.

She chucks on a piece of toast.

Ten greasy dishes,

ten sticky grins.

Another eggy morning.

Wakey, wakey,

eggs and bakey.

A

American Lunch Box

I never ate at a US school cafeteria but my mind stole that TV imagery and packed it tightly in a blue tin box. I am part of your everyday American lunch.

I am a life experience thief.

I will go after your peanut

Butter and jelly sandwich

Before I even know it exists.

Global thirst is my

Target.

Condensed milk in your

Tea.

Soy beans and Spanish

Ham,

Hunger of the red and white

Brand.

Golden arches hold my

Universal childhood's swing:

It's the world's endless playground,

Come and spice my

Chicken wings.

I grew up in an Oxo castle.

I had Marmite to spread.

Animal blood,

Black pudding,

Capitalism in Paris.

I am a life experience thief.

I'm your hunger,

I'm your thirst.

Take me out or dine me in.

Cross me out of every menu,

Or I'll try to eat you first.

A

Imagine the USA

Imagine you are to cross the United States of America by car in two weeks. Let's make this hypothetical situation a bit more realistic by garnishing it with some juicier details. For example, let's imagine the car you're driving is a white Acura Integra, 1990, called Lisa. Let's imagine you have Morcheeba paying on the external CD player that really did it for you when you were considering if buying that car was a good idea in the first place. Imagine you decide to start your trip in Newark, Delaware, and imagine your final destination is Phoenix, Arizona. Originally you wanted to go as far as California, but you have realized that you don't have enough time, or money for those extra miles. However, you leave some space in your imagination for a two-day excursion to the Grand Canyon.

Now, imagine you are in that car, zooming across States and borders. And now imagine you decide to play a game noting down all the different State number plates you see on the road. Well, here is the list you will have by the end of your journey:

Delaware
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
New York
Virginia
West Virginia
North Carolina
Maryland
South Carolina
Ohio 10
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Missouri
Texas
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Alabama
Maine
Kansas 20
Indiana
Iowa
Illinois
Tennessee
Georgia

(At this point your blue pen has ran out of ink and you change to a black Sharpie)

Michigan
Utah
Florida
Minnesota
South Dakota 30
California
Arkansas
Washington
New Mexico
Nebraska
Idaho
Louisiana
North Dakota
Hawaii
Montana 40

Nevada

Colorado
Wyoming

(Here you draw an horizontal line. In your mind you know you are separating US States from other countries. You don't have much space left, so this area looks a bit messy)

Ontario
Vancouver
Hong Kong
Sonora
Chihuahua

A.

Los poemas de Gloria Ocariz

Amiga Gloria, esto es lo menos que puedo hacer por ti.
Esperemos que el mundo comparta tu gloria.

"Un pajarillo cantando
me despertó esta mañana
y, en su cántico me dijo:
¡Que me voy a La Solana!
Porque hoy, 21 de Abril,
Cumple años tu hermana.
¡Espera, que voy contigo!
le grité.
Me levanté de la cama.
Me afeité, puse un abrigo.
Presto llegué a la ventana y,
el pájaro se había ido.
Miré y lo vi, alto, muy alto volaba,
Con dirección muy segura,
Derechito a La Solana
Le grité por si me oía:
¡Un beso dale a mi hermana!
Y, como era muy temprano,
Me fui de nuevo a la cama"

Gloria Ocariz Partearroyo

"Ya se fueron las sombras
de la noche a esos mundos
en donde la quietud del corazón va buscando
la calma que no da la vida"

Gloria Ocariz Partearroyo

"La lluvia va cayendo
Y el farol se va apagando
¿Cuáles son los pensamientos de
los que pasan por la calle?
Aquel amor que se fue o
Aquel trabajo que no llegó.
Esperemos mejores tiempos"

Gloria Ocariz Partearroyo

A Gloria la conocí mientras trabajaba en el Centro de Día de la Comunidad de Madrid de la calle Sagasta, era una de las socias y su compañía hizo, sin duda, que ir a trabajar fuera un poco más ameno.
A.