ALICIA VIGUER-ESPERT Alicia Viguer-Espert, born and raised in the Mediterranean city of Valencia, Spain, lives in Los Angeles. A three times Pushcart nominee, she has been published in Lummox Anthologies, Altadena Poetry Review, ZZyZx, Panoply, Rhyvers, River Paw Press, Amethyst Review, Odyseey.pm, and Live Encounters among others. Her chapbooks To Hold a Hummingbird, Out of the Blue Womb of the Sea and 4 in 1, focus on language, identity, home, nature, and soul. In addition to national and international publications, she is included in “Top 39 L.A. Poets of 2017,” “Ten Poets to Watch in 2018,” and “Bards of Southern California: Top 30 poets,” by Spectrum.
Homesickness How long has the sea known about saturnine heartbeats, sea urchins prickling the soul which neither Calamine, pearl necklaces nor murmurs from stars can heal?
Visions of my sea and this ocean paralyze me with ambivalence. Now and then, a wave whispers of what I miss, and dismiss, then, I peek into my chest and notice the darkness of a sinkhole larger than Florida. Like that mediaeval girl buried face down ankles bound so she couldn’t return from the grave, I’m tied to a place I love sometimes, and fear, most of the time, that it will become the lieu where they bury me.
© Alicia Viguer-Espert 2024 January POETRY & WRITING © liveencounters.net
