JUAN SANCHEZ PELAEZ'S TIME
(Passed away Nov. 20,2003)

Juan Sanchez Pelaez's time
in the America's field
of nature and words
no longer
hidden among seminars
of younger poets
behind a mountain of stars
when poor angels sing
by twelve bells
of a deserted church steps
as a mandolin plays jazz
in the rain soaked wind
down winding streets
of favellas
as ten children are hiding
from the general's round-ups
on the roads of beggars
who locate their brides
in rustic villages
from an earth's heat wave
welcoming all brothers
and sisters to your wedding
greeting them
in their own languages
betrayed by the world
dying of thirst or hunger
when your mother arrives
in a pawned black shawl
fresh from her husband's
funeral in Caracas
brings her red apple seed scent
of life's unspoken promises
in a broken soup tureen
played as a torturer's
repaired tire wheel
in a revolutionary parade
from a painted red tambourine
in memory of the dead.