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Tears

Lola Rosario 1967 (The Bronx)

Free verse
today, I asked the dictionary a question,
how do you define Love?

it gave me a bunch of answers:

a profoundly tender, passionate
affection for another

a feeling of warm personal attachment
or deep affection, as for a parent,
child, or friend

sexual passion or desire

then, I posed the same question
to the palm trees of my precious
town of Loíza

their roots digging deeper into the soil,
softly whispered,

it is a vow of enduring commitment
to let us stay here, in our home

their towering trunks slowly swaying
in the cool Caribbean breeze, murmured,

it means holding our destroyers responsible
for the greed of taking a land not theirs

those long & slender leaves
tickling each other in the passing wind, cried,

it is a promise to not replace us
with cement and stone,
brick and wire fences

but, the dictionary cannot hear
the sobbing of this Mother Earth

and I realize
the world is losing its humanity

I also understand that today
is yesterday’s tomorrow,
and there will be many more todays
with the same impossible question
about Love

still, my heart holds hope
that the verdant landscape
of my beautiful Loíza will prevail

because in defining Love
everything is possible

About this poem

This poem describes the pain of seeing nature in my northeastern coastal town of Loíza, Borikén (aka Puerto Rico) being destroyed.

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Written on June 10, 2023

Submitted by Lola'sLines on June 10, 2023

1:09 min read
9

Quick analysis:

Scheme AB C XD EEX D AFC XG EX XG HX XX FXX XX XX XXXAB XXX BH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,195
Words 232
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 5, 3, 2
Full analysis for Tears »

Lola Rosario

Afro-Boricua Feminist and Spoken word poet from New York City who returned to her ancestral motherland of Borikén. Works center of African and Indigenous roots, colonization, gentrification and demolishing the patriarchy. more…

All Lola Rosario poems | Lola Rosario Books

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1 Comment
  • luisestable1
    luisestable1
    There are two situations here that are not comparable: Describing love and caring for the planet or the world which are completely different things.
    Just because no clear definition of love can be given, this has nothing to do with caring o doing the right thing, and one can do the right thing without necessarily being in love with the thing one is helping or caring for.
    The poem tries to make a point, but I think in the process it is mixing opposites. 
    LikeReply10 months ago
    • Lola'sLines
      Lola'sLines
      As noted in the about section, my piece addresses how nature is being destroyed. I used the definition of love as both a vehicle and metaphor. In the former, the message 'las palmas' gives to us environmental activist; in the latter, the lack of love is a metaphor for the greed of those who outside investors building here. The poem is not 'trying to make a point,' it's a lived experience you seem not to understand, and that's ok. 
      LikeReply10 months ago

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"Tears" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/161596/tears>.

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