Two Poems | Juanita Rey
THE SHAKE OF THE HEAD
I’m sitting on a park bench,
with paper and pen,
working on a new poem.
Only old men
stop and ask me
what I’m doing.
I say, “Writing poetry.
They shake their heads
and move on.
Then I spy this guy
I know.
He comes over,
asks me what I’m doing.
I say “Writing poetry.”
He shakes his head and stays.
I’ve learned to live
with the shakes of the head.
It’s the moving on
or staying
that matters.
WRITING THE PREMATURE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I’m stuck maybe twenty pages into
my autobiography.
I can’t make the main character
anyone I know.
Nor speak in her voice.
Or get behind the disguises.
It’s frustrating.
I screw up paper.
I toss my pen against the wall.
Everyone says,
you sure got an imagination girl.
Is that what prevents me
from seeing things straight?
It’s not easy
getting myself down in words.
I worked as a waitress
but I never was one.
And I’ve scrubbed and cleaned
my kitchen floor
but I’m no maid.
There’s someone in this room
struggling to make of herself
a deep clear mirror.
I’ve spent twenty pages
looking in the glass.
The twenty first
is hidden in the back somewhere.
Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash
Bio
Juanita Rey is a Dominican poet who has been in this country five
years. Her work has been published in Mixed Mag, The Mantle and The
Art Of Everyone.
