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p.17, Love in a Handful of Dust by Kirk Ramdath
– Poem, "márquez could do you justice (but for now the task is mine)"
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the opening line connects bitter almonds*
to the scent of unrequited love
at first it is easy for me to play the role of florentino arizo
because he worships fermina daza
and like me, he cannot swim
in the character of fermina daza, i see you
with your aura of self-possession
your secret chord of strength
but florentino arizo becomes a rejected man
who purgatories his body countless times
to dull the pangs of despiséd love
all the while he cares more for the hairs that fall from his head
than the women in his bed
all the while he hopes for the death of the husband
of the woman he claims to love
all the while,
a deceitful worm
this is not the legacy that your love leaves in me
i never cherished a word
until i spoke your name
and then i knew –
the highest concept can be named
i was changed
when i said you were beautiful
i was not speaking, i was breathing
my love for writing
is woven with my love for you
into this tapestry of words
into knowledge
that there is no higher purpose for words
than to breathe love into the world
*Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.
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