Mexican American Studies & Research Center Publications

Bernice Zamora

Tenets

In the separation of body and soul,
I have drawn this conclusion:
It is bone impossible,
Despite every encumbrance,
Dying ignorance aside,
Dreams cling to each rattled bone.
In the heart's arrogant love
I have held my breath before
Iconoclasts ignorant of living forests
Dying trees, and women nailed
Diligently to tilted anatomies
Dying, too by scorching winds.
One soul, one body, one winded instrument.
On the bone, a face, a smile
Or teeth rattling rhythmically
To song-drumming, barely sensed
Tunes taken from dreams and left
To haunt the heart until it begs connection.