The Online Literary Magazine of Cerritos College

Poetry

English

Sylvia L. Acosta

I Stand Alone

I stand alone–planted firmly

eyes wide open

heat swirls

like ocean waves

sun's light

shimmers like prisms

from crystal’s magic.

Heat; prickly sweat

runs down and

gathers in pools between

my breasts;

there is no illusion

I stand alone – alone.

Who cares to hear my

riotous heartbeat

locked within this oasis

of flesh and bones?

I struggle against a battle

I fear I’ll never win;

who cares to feel the pulse

of conflict that beats within?

My strength gathered

from love so rare,

I wonder how long love

will hold me

before death dares?

I stand alone–planted firmly.

Like a mountain, hands

reaching for the sky,

nothing tangible to take

hold of–like a mirage

concealed in the waves

of desert heat.

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