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Octavio Quintanilla
Octavio
Quintanilla's poetry has appeared in numerous print journals. It can also be found online at
Lily, Branches, Poems Niederngasse, and The Rose & Thorn. He has just completed a novel titled
This Is The Life and will soon be looking for a publisher. He lives in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
Giving The World A Rest
In any case, let us rest
our backs against the red bricks.
We will see from here
those who will come meet us.
Try not to use too many words.
Someone might think you are bent
on defining the world.
Let us rest our backs against the bricks.
Two lovers take a walk in the woods
Do you see the vultures
making their rounds?
It must be for that field
resting like a cadaver.
Look at them.
Their wings connect the sky
with the horizon.
In the town we left behind,
no one will ever think
of looking for us here.
Your hands swallow seagulls
when all you wanted
was to find a place
to let them rest.
They insist to feed
on what has long died
inside the bones
as if to punish you
for remembering.
Body
Not yet morning to fit
into this body
is harder than denying life
a pattern of how it ends.
The ending, in our case,
is simple. Our bodies learn
to be touched. They learn
to fit into each other. Learn
to tame demons. Learn not to be
afraid of the wilderness. Some learn
to claim a soul.
Wishing For Youth
Blood has never quenched thirst.
And this thirst needs more than blood.
It needs whispers in order to moisten.
Yet not even moisture will turn your life
counterclockwise. You will not
return to your father's grunts. You will not
reach your mother's morning sickness.
The thirst will outlive you.
There must be some water in the bones.
You are too far by now from the riverbank.
copyright © Octavio Quintanilla
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