San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly

Thelma T. Reyna

TO VANESSA*

 

your sweet face fooled us all, lulled us into

thinking a heart of milk and honey could stave

off monsters

 

your soft arms folded us in laughter, tricked

us into thinking your songs and crazy dancing

could castrate demons

 

your dreams consumed us— your films, poems,

music, art, scripts transporting us to

worlds you grew

 

but you buried truth in pillows, in journals 

shut to daylight, in night clubs cramped with

sweat, malt liquors, smoke, and coke

 

you buried your soul in keyboards clacking

beyond sleep, churning your brain into

believing fame followed close

 

vanessa of visions huge, transcending blue-eyed

men who blocked, who slammed doors shut, who

could not see the world you were

 

vanessa of gentle eyes that wearied of the tug,

the pull, the pressing down, the clouds that hung

like lead around your soul

 

dreams die hard, you said the day before, but

we were lulled and tricked and blind and deaf and

never saw your spirit’s death.

 

_____________________

*In memoriam: Vanessa Libertad Garcia, age 29.