Ode to Reynier Leyva Novo
by Ave Haynes
yo encuentro
a little red book
hanging
stained on a bleached exhibit wall
above a tombstone entitled
El Peso de la Historia
real revolutions bleeding through its constant constitutions
como una guayaba crucificada
censored with soot
cubierta covered
como una bata
hovering in la mano de humo
coughing
como half de una alma fumando
En el aire
crisply-turned whispers crescendo
me lean
me lean
lo abro
palpitating panic and palabras as silent as a posthumous attic
published prematurely
freezing to rust in a cell
órganos inflamados and fleeting freedom fights
incendiary scenes seen sonámbulando through the night
el papel en llamas es
el papel de papel
read from a roll of paper
hermano batido con un béisbol bat
split-rhythm splattered on enclosing walls
the spine of
su lengua
tacked to
wherever they left it
las únicas palabras están en las lápidas
the only words are on tombstones
las únicas palabras están en las lápidas
the only words are on tombstones
las únicas palabras está—
I close it
las hojas of the little red book
hanging
stained on a bleached exhibit wall
cierran los ojos y comienzan
their persuasively painful canción
Equal parts el fin
and
the beginning
No te preocupes
for your words
breathe
breathe
breathe.
* Author's note: This poem is inspired artist, Reynier Leyva Novo, and his piece, El Peso de la Historia, Five Nights, displaying five historical texts commenting on censorship in Cuba.