Watching logs ignite flaring, listen for the charred rhymes

On the Balcony of The Signature

• “I like her; I could watch her the rest of my life.”
• — Philip K. Dick

• As my best man handed me
• a bubbly drink we toasted
• clinking clear glasses of Cristal,
• during our Vegas wedding
• reception the way he pointed
• to my love in white as she gathered
• cheek kissing bridesmaids with giggles
• while hugging my distant Colombian
• relatives—at that moment, through
• the brightening breeze, I whispered
• aloud: we’re married—The Signature
• balcony had awakened me
• as I realized at that moment,
• glimpsing her within new light—
• for the first time, this same
• stunning beauty glowing
• before me, I now call her—
• my wife.

She Has Cameras in Her Eyes

• From a 2016 photograph of Natalie Alvarado by Nikki Lopez

• Focusing of lenses
• between each
• and every blink,
• while glowing
• paused reflections
• I love the way
• she sinks back inside
• with each shutter
• musing blushes
• as she thinks—
• sometimes I wait
• for her to connect
• back with words
• but all I hear is her
• flashing sigh, lips bitten
• and Polaroid smile half
• crooked, developing slowly
• while blinking, she shares
• softly drifting focusing giggles
• within a moment exposing
• her blushing hesitation.

There’s Nothing Like Gazing into A Campfire

• Watching logs ignite flaring
• listen for the charred rhymes
• in between the flames
• the fire pits epic poetry
• the wood refrains, hear
• them yearn; as the smoke
• rises skyward who needs a lightbulb
• your mind crackles introspection
• ideas glowing in the nocturne.
• There’s nothing like watching
• the most personal motion picture,
• toasting without words. Your eyes
• mesmerized as the sparks become
• the most sizzling revelations
• there are no explosions, under stars;
• yet there are poems sizzling quietly,
• you can hear them stir, in between
• the hypnotic interludes, where
• nothing ever happens—
• and everything always burns.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is an L.A. Poet who is a recent graduate of the MFA program at Antioch University in Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and their cat Woody Gold. His poetry has been featured in The Yellow Chair Review, Thick With Conviction, Silver Birch Press, and one of his poems was named the winner of Subterranean Blue Poetry’s 2016 “The Children of Orpheus” Anthology/Contest. You can connect with Adrian on his website.