Crossing the River
Crossing the river on a fishing expedition
my religious convictions crashed
at the corner of Maynard and South King Street
looking to the left my right ear heard
a whisper only people stuck
in winter weather can hear
when their earlobes are numbed
by cold Canadian winds.
My mother said:
“bajo los arcos” ” under the arches”
astonished by the message
I walked on my numbed two feet
toward Jackson down by the arches
still remember the echo, gasping, grunting
lamenting whispers under that bridge
where I spent the night sleeping
on cold concrete
a long, long time ago
dead man hanging from the bridge,
his spirit whispers cold hush murmured
I listened-numbed-on cold-concrete
Raúl Sánchez is a Seattle Bio-Tech technician, eschatologist, colletic, prosody enthusiast, hamartiologist, translator, DJ, and cook who conducts workshops on The Day of the Dead. He was featured in the program for the 2011 Burning Word Poetry Festival in Leavenworth WA. His most recent work is the translation of John Burgess’ Punk Poems in his book Graffito. He has been a board member of the Washington Poets Association and is a moderator for the Poets Responding to SB 1070 Facebook page.
Copyright © 2014 by Raul Sanchez