Art by Mariano Oreamuno, Moonbow
She Wishes She Never Had
By Sheryl Luna
Published Issue 053, May 2018
She wishes she never had
Oxblood red Days, loss, rivers which
flowed through her body in rough rapids
She wants smooth currents seeking the source
that dwells within. She wishes she never had
refused love like a wounded child, slapped,
stunned into submission to others. Language
a cloud pattern, gaseous, then pouring rain,
a calm lake, a rough River. She never
could Find her true name written
on the wall her ancestors built – Smokey,
her eyes see fires flicker, stars throb,
and she wants to go one place,
but is here where lizards flick tongues,
Scurry under rocks in the heat. She wishes
She never had walked rolling bare blue
hills, tumbleweed filled dirt roads
where vultures span wings overhead,
loop towards death. Here she is
counting sparrows and mourning doves,
planting a fig tree in the desert
of her want.