Pointillism (2021, Edition of 1)
A spoken word, media-rich poem by award-winning poet Ana Maria Caballero. From Caballero’s new manuscript, MAMMAL, which explores how biology delimits cultural rites. Her signature, straightforward verse gives voice to what’s left unsaid in that all-important space of home.
–
Pointillism
Not the life I dreamed
is not an effective way to say—
this is not
the life I dreamed.
Preferable to deliver
the concept abstractly,
from the distant clean of metaphor:
the curt, indigo waves
of Lake Okeechobee
veil drifting alligators well.
But even allegory baits trouble.
Thoughts, like gators, if unprovoked,
glide by.
Better yet to not articulate—
to verbalize no
thing.
Or, to concede—
Honey,
I love you.
You are a terrific father,
a terrific man.
My nipples are bleeding
from feeding our baby.
That is all.