by Margarita Bonifaz
I am by the side fence
holding my long dark braids
where else?
trying to keep myself safe
my job back then,
still is
in the center
of the field
there you are
you have gone wild with rage
Your red hair is flying
your words full of literary curses
Your genius went unrecognized
except I always saw it
So did Mrs. Sharkey
she was just so
permanently mad at you
for being more engaging
than her damn lessons
You push the bully girl
hard
She tumbles
She reaches for you
tears your green sweater
the only new thing
you own
I do not know
how we found each other
or why we became fast friends
braiding each other's hair
yours, gold tinged red
mine, dark brown
we recognized
wordless things
in the other
I am trying to remember
how you told me your secrets
all the trouble we got in
all the boys
all the recesses
spent inside
punishment for our glee
I do not know
how the hell I lost you
in this wounded world
But I think of you too often
How you gave me
tenderness and courage
what you saw in me
how you protected me
from the bully girl
and sometimes
from myself
I met you again
recently
at Lime Square Poets
you were reading one of your poems
Yes, brilliant
I thought
You have not lost your rage
your red hair
or your word filled talent
Margarita Bonifaz published her first poem, Fairy Toast, at age 7 in the literary journal The Phoenix. During her 32-year teaching career she wrote mostly in the margins. Two of her stories were published in Peregrine Journal: Summer's Dance (1992) and Dr. Mercuvio and the Velvet Couch (1995). In recent years, she has taken her novel out of the drawer and has countless stories just sitting on her desktop. The only reason she is writing poems is so she has something to read on Thursdays at Lime Square Poets. She loves wild geese, Queen Anne's lace, astronomical twilight and believes in the medical value of sugar.
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