Message to My Godmother

Message to My Godmother

That girl in the mirror

daughter of San Juan

made of sunshine and sugarcane

looks like my mom

She used to run weightless

Time a perfumed bottle

hanging from her neck

Manana a song

she made up the words to

while she skipped

until the day she stopped

caught the toothless, squirming bundle

heaven dropped into her arms

and gravity kicked in

Her life took a new spin

This screaming gift did not

lead her to dream places

or fill all her empty spaces

like she thought

Silly C------, she bought into

Miami high

That love is mostly what you get

instead of what you give

and what it costs

like the perfumed bottle

ripped from her neck

and sent flying to the ground

The crashing sound

of years lost

shattered in her ears

and new fears emerged

from the looking glass

Sometimes I wonder

if I'll ever see her again.