since last week’s hard rains
2nd floor, 30 1⁄2 99 Gärten, Bayreuth, Germany
I can see the shape of Puerto Rico
where pieces of concrete
have fallen
from the large wall behind my apartment,
over a few blue-roofed bird houses
to rest near a papaya sapling
tall and ready to leave its plastic pot.
Each morning, I stare at the island
I left a month ago from a long kitchen
window with a gentle inward tilt.
I see the cracks expand in wind gusts
and late sunrises of October.
When I nod its way, gentle ripples
left
by a mason’s trowel summon calm.
Its quiet brings
company, a stronger
footing for the tropics—and for me.
Since last week’s hard rains,
I stand more frequently by the glass,
watching the decay of a tree bearing
apples and roses in dark red on almost
leafless branches. They ask what I want.
To gather those I’ve loved and new friends too
in this garden, I say. I’ll serve pasteles
and mulled wine, then we’ll make a mural
on the wall, painting in the moonlight.
Tiny rose buds now await a map of bright
colors. The island is leery of repair.
Don Edward Walicek lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He received his MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry at New York University’s Writers’ Workshop in Paris. His poetry has been published in print and online journals, including Sapiens, The Wild Word, The Caribbean Writer, AUIS Literary Journal, Chapter House, and Clackamas Literary Review. He is the main translator of Torres de arena / Towers of Sand (Poinciana Paper Press), which features work by the poet José Ramón Sánchez Leyva. Walicek acts as editor of Sargasso, a journal based at the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras Campus.
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