Beatriz Alba del Rio

I dreamt of . . .                 

 

movement of stars     sprinkling her skirt

He   observant of the miracle of being alive

She   dreamer of the naked noticed dress

Birth of doves and daisies     covering

all roads          steps without traces

desert of silences plagued

by singing birds

Browns and reds

                       Autumn leaves     again

                        and the arrival of wisdom

                        at the age of three

                        when her father left   

                  

Ars Poetica  

What is poetry?

Splash of stars
falling to earth
seeds
blossoming
into songs of human sorrow.

Girl from Guatemala
victimized
young languid peasant
she will never see again
starvation of colors and food.

Sacco and Vanzetti
killed
laborers muted antiheroes
blind injustice
in fear of the new.

Salem Witches
imprisoned
ordinary young women
transformed into extraordinary mysteries
in terror of their sexual freedom.

Miracle of words
interwoven
fisherman´s net on the island of Ischia
searching for the fish unknown to him
but being there
since time began.

 

Beatriz Alba del Rio is a bilingual poet, lawyer, mediator, and member of the New England Poetry Club. Her awards include: 1st Prize  2002 Octavio Paz International Poetry Contest, 3rd Prize 2003 Pablo Neruda International Poetry Contest, 2004 1ST Prize Cambridge Poetry Award ( “Masks over masks” category “female erotic poem”) and finalist with poem “Black Crows” category “female love poem” and the 2007 3rd Prize New England Poetry Club Diana Der-Hovanessian Translation Award. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies and literary magazines. Beatriz’s inspiring muses are Chekov, Borges, Paz, Neruda, Gelman, Jorie Graham, and Franz Wright. Beatriz’s poetry guru is Ottone Riccio. These contemporary poets ignite Beatriz’s light and darkness to write. She believes in the oneness of us all.