Two Poems by Emanuelle Cartagena

Desert

 

Crossing the lines in the sand,
go stamp with
Irregular gait,
while carrying the dead Arizona dry air,
Flourescent green cacti greet you,
enticing knowing what they store.
Tumbleweeds wisp in the-
burning hot wind flushes face full of red,
biting the pores and stinging the open wounds,
lashing up into your face.
The particles flash their warning signs.
Atmosphere like venus,
hovers its oven bake ready heat,
clinging to your heart,
and wrapping the shackles on it.
Ever omnipresent,
your delirium nearing,
as your thoughts melt into pools,
and the water evaporates from your skull.
Secluded from life,
orange-brown tinted soil spans for miles,
so much so,
it leaves your imagination,
to do its work.

Tethering away the air splits in two,
Spherical sky objects warp,
ovals, squares, and Native Americans,
or hippies frolicing around,
chanting old hyms for survival,
and reciting one haunting line,

"Welcome to the desert.
It may be the last welcome you hear."

 

 

 

A Good Day

I noticed the bark on every tree,
sitting so still, placid.
Orange syrupy sap seeped into the dirt.
Stumps stood strong like a lumberjack's torso,
never sturdier.
On this gloriously sunny day,
filled with dry air and blooming fluff of cumulus,
Trees won most,
gulping the rays and sapping the oxygen.
I also noticed........

 

Background calls,
crept into the forefront.
Bulky, piss-yellow bulldozers readied,
waiting for the final signal.
Three, two, ONE!
Sharp, metal claws raked into the once peaceful bark,
and the crunch made sure you knew,
quiet was finished.
Wheels pressed up against the stumps,
and rammed into the wood and sap.
Leaves rustled, tumbling down into the vehicles.
Foundations, roots all snapped,
two, five, seven at a time.
Noise was like a thousand homes toppling at once.
WHOOSH! RIP! and a fall, many.
They all fell for a reason,
The real estate signs, suits,
and the smiles proved it.

 

 

Emanuelle Cartagena is an aspiring, up-and-coming poet with a passion for words and how to use them. He has been writing for about 8 years now. He's also performed his poetry all across the state of PA. Manny has been published in Pigeon Bike poetry, Linden Avenue, New Plains Review and online with Earthborne poetry and Haggard and Halloo.