Kaleidoscope and Other Poems

By Michael De Rosa

Kaleidoscope

We look at life
The world through
A lens
In sharp focus
A singular view

Better 
To see the world
Through a prism
In all its
Many-sidedness
Panoply of views

Seeing not just
What we believe
Or want to believe
But what is there
Before our eyes
In all its glory

Even better
A kaleidoscope
Retrieve the memories 
Of Childhood
When the everyday
Became a rare vision
A tapestry of shape
And color

For Get Me Not

Nestled in my arms
I nuzzle your neck
Smell your hair
Gently nip your ear
Press your ever-cold nose to my cheek
Kiss

As your memory dims
I memorialize
Every perfect moment
For you
Us

Your joy at eating flan
Seeing a sunrise
Sunset

With head erect
Back straight
We move through space and time
Holding hands
Still

I came into your life late
As your memory fades
Will you forget me
First

A New Story

I was in a story not my own.
The love of my life,
Gone
No more walks, holding hands. 
Nights keeping each other warm
Without you, our story ended.

But my need to hold hands,
Snuggle, 
Did not end. 
What happens when the love of your life
Is forever gone, 
But your road continues.

I started a new story
I found you
Or did we find each other?
We became each other’s 
Love of their new life together

Walking through life hand in hand
Our love keeping us warm at night
Everything new
Yet tinged with memories of what
Once we had.

No Ever After

It started at conception
A spelling error in 
The genetic language
Controlling your destiny

For decades
It went unnoticed
This tiny flaw
Deep inside you

Then it started
Changes in
Gait
Balance
Memory

At first imperceptible
To those that 
Loved you
Knew you
And yourself 

Once it started
Love was not enough
To stop the changes

Only your smile left
When you saw me 
And those that loved you
Knew you

Your smile extinguished now
Love could not
Bring it back
No Ever After

Lo Mataron

Summer night
Summer sounds
Then a woman’s anguished 
Keening in the night 
Lo mataron,
Lo mataron
They killed him
Who
 I never knew.
How
A car lost control
Crushed against a lamppost
Blood dried brown stains the spot
Washed away by summer rains
Traces of a life lost gone
But I still remember
Cries cleaving that summer night
Lo mataron
Lo mataron