just as she watched her
children and their children
bloom into lush gardens.
the lady of the night was
never seen without her smile.
even when the light decided
it was time for her roots to be
planted elsewhere, she walked
with grace. back to the throne
that sat in her garden filled
with love, majesty, and honor.
i was young when you held
my hand through the darkness
and walked me to your garden.
you told me to look, we stood
and waited patiently for la dama
de noche to bloom while the
coqui sang its song. it was then i
knew that the darkness was our
friend and you recognized it too.
i still feel your overworked
hands cupping my face
- te extraño abuela
they know the message. they know you
no longer suffer from the hands of
your lover. they don’t worry anymore.
they know that you are finally happy
now and they know you found a home
where you wear a golden crown with
your beautiful red dress and that
seamless smile.
- the sweetest visitation
when she was little she dreamed
of a life filled with so much love
that it would overspill the earth
and fly amongst the stars.
the little girl was not aware that
the darkness was going to come
very soon and whisk her away
to never see the light again.
and so the darkness stayed for
many years to come and till this
day the darkness has never left.
she
made
a
home
within
the
darkness
while the ghosts came to torment
her and were busy walking in and
out her life, she never rested.
she crawled through dirt wet
soil to tend her garden.
oh so many times her flowers
would wilt and die. the darkness
was too much. the flowers needed
time and light to grow.
time never once froze for her.
time never once stopped at its tracks.
time never thought to give her
a break to start over and bloom.
she took the darkness and bloomed
with it. petal by petal the sunflower
grew and grew and grew.
and the sunflower girl bloomed in darkness
i dream of their hauntings,
of their coming back and
never leaving. i dream of
the fear, that all of it will
come true. of the worst that
has already happened and
the taunt taunt taunting
of those wicked nights. the
deceiving and the betrayal.
the sun never rising again.
this is not the end
of my story. it is
only the beginning.
for my soul
is a ghost town
for all these
people i once knew.
acknowledgements
to the blogging community, thank you for accepting and loving this poetry series. it wouldn’t be here without your push. without your comments of wanting more.
to the one i call twin, lilly, you don’t know this but every time i felt discouraged and hated this book, your excitement rang in my ears. your words and advice moved me to continue. (ig: lair_of_books)
to mami, papi, and jay. thank you for being there for me through these hard times. you know their names, for some have hurt you too. and look at us; alive, loving, and living. los amo con toda mi vida. soy nadie sin ustedes.
to nick, you saw me cry over these poems and you heard me relive a lot of this trauma. thank you for being there and putting up with my moody self. i know i’m not easy to deal with.
to amanda lovelace, cyrus parker, anne chivon, and ashley kathryn rose; thank you for believing in me. thank you for your advice and hearing me whine all the time.
lastly, to the poetry and book community. thank you for your lovely words, for your encouragement, and for sticking around. you all are awesome.
about the author
gretchen gomez is a puerto rican poet from the bronx. when home you will find her watching crime shows, cuddling with her dog, or writing—trying to make sense of things. gretchen is a full-time lover of words. she is the author of love, and you. this is gretchen’s second poetry collection.
where to find gretchen:
twitter: chicnerdreads
instagram: chicnerdreads
blog: chicnerdreads.wordpress.com
tumblr: chicnerdreads.tumblr.com
Welcome to Ghost Town Page 5
