BESAME ME MUCHO

BESAME, BESAME MUCHO

...And that/ plaint, that pleading: I know its color/  now— the lilac shade of longing// that looks to slide into the arms/  of evening, the way I want to feel/ your lips linger, your tongue// shape itself to the ache of my mouth./  The way the syllable opens in mucho,/ before trailing off into the night.---From “Besame” by Luisa A. Igloria, Via Negativa, 02-24-12 

Que tengo miedo, perder se después.*

There was style then, no cat alleys 

for rendezvous, however urgent

loss looms the night after. Adios, amor.* 

Whimpering like a barrister puppy,

she said, I am afraid I will lose you. 

How can you, mi amor, there is enough

of these kisses to last us the life time. 

The lilac’s purple will always be there,

she waters her bush daily like a baby. 

Recuerdos de un beso con mucho

amor ardiente.* It was all I could take. 

Do I still ache in my mouth? Do I shape

goodbye plaints on them as the rhumba 

plays on, and on, and on, and on, in my

Manhattan loft before I escape dreams 

To punish lovers who could not hold on?

The lonely years be damned. Besame.

---Albert B. Casuga

02-25-12

*Que tengo miedo, perder se después –I am afraid I will lose you after this; Adios, amor – goodbye love; Recuerdo de un beso con mucho amor ardiente –Remembrances of a kiss given with great ardence; Besame – Kiss me.