“Arturo” | Alessandra Benitez | Poetry

Arturo

Alessandra Benitez

I was born at night My first memory of my mother’s face Drops of honey on her forehead Love on her cheeks Her milky skin red as a siren While she held me tightly

I grew up untroubled Chasing my brothers around the house My mother cooking That sweet Menudo smell forever into my heart

Happiness came when I met my wife Working at a bank Pools of honey in her eyes that saw through my flirt Her childlike laughter reminded me of home

I was blessed when my first daughter was born Constellations of freckles dressing up her face With honey-colored locks and a warrior’s attitude Like her grandmother But with her mother’s laugh inside her

Yet I was trapped for years After that first sip of beer (It looked like honey) Missing grandkids’ birthdays Playdates and heartbreaks

I had been clean for a year When the sand of the hourglass ran out On that dreadful dawn

I was born at night And I died at night