The After Memory

Blue eyes shining—dancing
Laughing at off-color jokes

Leading with literary genius
Suggestions, ideas
flying like fireflies in black skies

Kicky bright colors
'Hey, can you move that
painting to the right?'

She still closed her eyes
to sniff out the artistic flairs
buried in minds

To pull out talent—
whether literary staff or
creative writing student.

The side ways curious look
she gave
as she found those
"tiny sweet morsels"

One corner of her mouth
turned up—
a half smile

Surprised—delighted by
discovery
while she coaxed
the "musical tricks" from
her students—
her literary staff
Her passion was understood.

She found clichés
in the black and stormy
skies that brought death

Death occurs
in sunshine
as well as
darkness

She searched for
the unusual dead sunshine
the unusual poetic line
the lines that contain
"raw passion"
raw fire
filled with
"small delicacies"

The chill tears through
her literary staffs—
her students
like small balls
of ice falling
on blue tarp

Reflecting
the last picture
the sign
that says
The End


Quotes are from "Appassionata" by Debra Vazquez
http://www.cf.edu/current/imprints/vol12/pg18_DebraVazquez.htm