Human Altar

i am a human altar
my images spin through my head
like a dj's two turntables.
each reccord spins a recuerdo
de mis abuelas
sus canciones son diferentes.

left turntable gives
the sound of the song
mi madre used to sing to me to go to sleep
the song mi abuela sang to mi madre tambien:
suna, suna, sunita, suena de coyote...
i don't know the rest
because i would always fall asllepp
in the middle of the song.

the right turntable
spins
the only disco mi abuela de iran me dio:
mobaran, mobaran...
a language that my tongue
although i was told it is a
children's happy birthday song.

i am a human altar
pero no puedo dar mis abuelas pan de muerto
or even things they like
i never met them
never had long conversation:
stories told of lands far away
relatives, chismes
while i lay in their laps.
dreaming, soñando esperando.
no soft arms to protect from the world's evil.

stuffy villains in poltical suits and natural oceans
made wall to keep us away.

i am a human altar
for mis abuelas:
Maria Comparini
Cobra Karimi Rouzbehani
dos mujeres
that created my circle of being.
i have only their
baby pillows
stuffed animals
letters in yelloed parchment
palabras en farsi y español.

their love circles me
like invisible atoms.
i believe they are there
were there
are here (and no scientist had to prove it to me)

i am a human altar
two turntables whose songs never stop spinning
in me.
you see them
        their eyes
        their words.
i carry them w/me daily.
although they are as
invisible as my thoughts
that is why
their memory
gives me
        power
        roots
        to grow strong.

11/2/98; 11/25/98
©robert karimi

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