Rio: A Journal of the Arts

 

Mariana Ruybalid

 

Another Reading

 

I read my poems to a responsive group
Listeners ask good questions. I feel
moisture running down my chin. I drool like a fool.
Am I dumb because I forget to swallow?

Could saliva conceal some hidden message?
The lost and forgotten swallow becomes a bird,
grows strong wings, and whispers in the wind,
"You are capable and oh so human."