Searching
By Jordan Pérez
When the purple snap peas in the garden
couldn’t find anything to grasp onto, the shoots
ferned into something unrecognizable. That was
that. There was simply no more living. The tomatoes,
believing they were near death, rushed to birth
fruit, and the very production took
the last life from them. Even the squash
was nothing without the blossom, and so in return.
Can you show me a body that is itself
whole? I think daily about the spotted turtle,
who I found trapped under the boardwalk
and carried back to the water, only to later
read that, if she’s moved too far, will spend
the rest of her life searching for her eggs.
How is it possible to define yourself by waiting
for someone you have never met?
Notes:
This poem is part of the portfolio “The Chorus These Poets Create: Twenty Years of Letras Latinas.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the December 2024 issue.
Source: Poetry (December 2024)