Tristan
By Sergio A. Ortiz


Breathe,
let the lepers out.
Drift to the edge of my cloud
and speak.
Find the fire, burn
my locust storm.
Persuade me to sleep
in a matrix full of sails that drift
disoriented yet attuned
to the wind.
Touch me like an innocent
man willing to let go
of his campfire
in the middle of this circular
stage,
the classroom
where pupils are attentive
to the magician’s tricks.
Dream and let that dream flood
my vigilant ghosts,
impostors of windflowers
and silk.


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Ortiz is an educator, poet, and photographer. He has a B.A. in English literature from Inter-American University, and a M.A. in philosophy from World University. His photographs will appear in The Neglected Ration and The Monongahela Review. He was recently published, or is forthcoming in: The Battered Suitcase, Zygote in my Coffee, Right Hand Pointing, Poui: Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing, Writers’ Bloc, and Temenos. Flutter Press published his chapbook, At the Tail End of Dusk (2009).