May Poem of the Month — Mary Torregrossa

In the Canyon of Beauty and Lament

          for Denise Chavez

The red cliffs never smile
the air is rarely still
even on the calmest days.
At night, the cottonwood
leaves wave frantically.
Here I do not deeply sleep.

Here the spirits move
in fragile gales.  An
ebony horse flies across
the dark sky.

All the birds and beetles
hide.  At sunrise the tops
of pine trees warble.
I envy them their song.

Mary Torregrossa teaches ESL to adults.  Her poems have appeared most recently in Alternate Lanes and Lummox. The LA Poetry Festival selected Mary as a 2009 “Newer Poet of LA.” In this poem, the ebony horse is inspired by a painting by Marc Chagall.

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