Silence Converses By Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Silence Converses


Silence converses
in the empty room
in the dream of
the bare cupboard,
gifting cups, plates,
drinking glasses. It
reminds the empty
drawers of the day
they harbored forks,
knives, and spoons.
It puzzles over the
broken light switch,
the hole under the
kitchen sink, and
the darkest corners
of the empty room.
Through the open
window by the kitchen
table silence finds
its voice in the
barking dogs, the
singing birds, the
sounds of lawnmowers.
It retreats into the
bedroom without
a bed; the dusty
floor coughs up
a lung; the darkness
sleeps there, trying
to mimic the former
inhabitants who have
found their own silence.
Silence makes no
more offerings.
It broods and sighs.
Its voice returns to
the open window
by the kitchen table,
enamored with the
blackbirds’ song
and converses with
its own mad self.

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Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal, born in Mexico, lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His first book of poems, Raw Materials, was published by Pygmy Forest Press. His poetry has been published by Alternating Current Press, Deadbeat Press, New Polish Beat, Poet's Democracy, and Ten Pages Press. His latest chapbook, Make the Light Mine, was published by Kendra Steiner Editions.