page 1 of 3

MY MIND

My mind is high like the moon.
I wash my face with cold water.
My high mind does not come down.
I cannot clear my thoughts.
They are without restraint
and I apologize for my thoughts
to those who could read my mind.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(added 11.27.09)

THE EVIL MIRROR

I carry myself
in a quiet manner.
I don’t like watching
myself in the mirror.

I sense a kind of
falsehood in the way
the mirror reflects
the way I appear. I

grimace. If this was
a snapshot, I’d burn it.
The evil mirror
looks deeper inside
of me. It makes me
want to destroy myself.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(added 11.27.09)

LITTLE MONKEY POEM

I carry it in my pocket.
A little monkey poem on
a string. I take it out now
and then and drop it like
a yo-yo. The little monkey
poem dances like a do-do.

Sometimes I cut the string
and the little monkey poem
goes ape on the town. It
gets in all sorts of trouble.
I need to bail it out of jail.
Should I leave it at the zoo?

I don’t know what to do with
it. I feel responsible for what
it does sometimes. The little
monkey poem usually gets
out of line. I think I have
to give it away to someone.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(featured in the poetry forum 11.27.09)

Check out the new chapbook "Overcome" by Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal.
Click here to read Mad Swirl's review and to order a copy of "Overcome".

THE YELLOW GRASS

Down by the grass
the wasps fly low.
Do they rest or
tie their small
invisible shoes?

Black ants take up
smoking from the
lit cigarette
butts lying
on the yellow grass.

Stretched out on the
dying grass the
cat worries me.
It's getting
old and it won't eat.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(featured in the poetry forum 09.18.09)

THE WIFE I NEVER MET

All my sons have died.
My daughters too.
They were never born.
I haven't met my wife.

Perhaps she is out
by the apple
tree, longing for the
husband of her dreams.

He likes apples and
women like her,
bronze like the land
and Spanish speaking.

She likes men who are
dreamers, who like
apples, who dream
of someone like her.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(added 09.18.09)

LIFE AFTER THE PSYCHIATRIC WARD

My life after involuntary treatment
includes living somewhere where
everyone gets along with me.

I would also like to find an easy job,
where I won't feel pressured, but
I'm not sure if such a job exists.

I would like to live with my family.
However, they don't like it when I
hallucinate and talk to myself.

The city where I grew up seems very
good. I would like to live close
to my family so they can visit me.

I want to meet a woman to love
romantically, conversationally,
and sexually. However, I don't

think my chances are good because
I hear and see things. I don't see
why I can't stay here forever.

- Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

(added 09.18.09)

next page >>