to Gabriel García Márquez
by Mireya Perez
From the silk and grosgrain
She encircled them in
The two thousand and more letters
He had written her
The first one in ink red as his passion
The second in the green of his hopes
The tenth in the cerulean of his happiness
The thirtieth in the lapis lazuli of his love
The seventieth in the indigo of his despair
The rest in the clean azure of his caring
The pages bleeding through to the next
Fragile parchment folded and unfolded
The words audible still, breathing to her
Darling
Dear
Sweet
Love
Kiss you
Miss you
Always
Spouting in her like bubbles from a water fountain
each one fully formed swirling around her feet
opening her toes, brushing her ankles
tickling her calves, penetrating her pores
seeking her breasts, the curve of her neck
the roundness of her cheek, the line of her nose
the secrets in her ear, the fragility of her eyelids
the smoothness of her forehead
detaining themselves to massage her back
the roundness of her hips, her softness beyond
Words soft, insistent
Words like whispers
Words pulsing
Words breathless breathing into her
Darling, dear, love, always
Mireya’s poems leap from English to Spanish and back again, invoking an array of spirits. Her poetry appears in Caribbean Review, Revista del Hada, NYU Poetry Review, and in Anthology of Colombian Women Poets, among other places.