Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

THE PANORAMA

The panorama lies in the distance.
Hours upon hours of bad times.
The sky is a mere illusion. Its clouds
give the hope of rain and shadows.

I go along with the flow, daydreaming
through the transparency of morning.
I kiss my afternoon away with the
caress of a glass of wine, then another.

I extinguish five hours and watch
the sun set. It goes off on its voyage
to other time zones, where blue skies

and green grasses fill the panorama.
It is another illusion of course. I
hope the clouds bring rain tomorrow.

AT THE BEACH

At the beach
I leave my feet
on the wet sand
to cool off.
I leave them
there to make
footprints and
to watch them
being washed
away by the
waves. I repeat
the act over
and over again
until the sun
becomes too
overwhelming,
punishing
my back and
rest of my body
where the sun
lotion must
be reapplied.

Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal lives in California, works in the mental health field in Los Angeles, and has published poetry, artwork, and photographs in the past four decades. His poetry has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Beach Chair Press, and Kendra Steiner Editions.