Ash and
Dust
There
were days I contemplated
tossing
my sadness into a pit
of fire.
I wanted to feel it burn
away to
nothing but ash and dust.
Last
night I could hardly stand it.
The
sadness felt like falling snow.
I put on
a coat over my sweater.
I
watched the amber sky until it
was
pitch black. The sadness stayed
with me.
I felt like a fool not knowing
how to
shake it. I wanted change.
I took
my sadness for a drive hoping
I could
talk some sense into it, tears
falling
from my eyes. I wondered what
other
steps I could take. I offered it
words of
kindness, but it would not
let go
of me. I gazed at the bright stars.
I made
up names for each one of them.
I hoped
my sadness would pass if I
kept
busy. To my chagrin, it did not pass.
My
sadness was getting old. I could
not
remember the last time I smiled.
I asked
it to leave me alone. It said it
would
leave when I was ash and dust.
Ash and
Dust
There
were days I contemplated
tossing
my sadness into a pit
of fire.
I wanted to feel it burn
away to
nothing but ash and dust.
Last
night I could hardly stand it.
The
sadness felt like falling snow.
I put on
a coat over my sweater.
I
watched the amber sky until it
was
pitch black. The sadness stayed
with me.
I felt like a fool not knowing
how to
shake it. I wanted change.
I took
my sadness for a drive hoping
I could
talk some sense into it, tears
falling
from my eyes. I wondered what
other
steps I could take. I offered it
words of
kindness, but it would not
let go
of me. I gazed at the bright stars.
I made
up names for each one of them.
I hoped
my sadness would pass if I
kept
busy. To my chagrin, it did not pass.
My
sadness was getting old. I could
not
remember the last time I smiled.
I asked
it to leave me alone. It said it
would
leave when I was ash and dust.
Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal
Born in Mexico, Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal, lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poetry has appeared in Ariel Chart, Blue Collar Reviews, Escape Imto Life, The Rye Whistles Review, and Unlikely Stories.