Poetry

Laurent Bertrais photo

By

Norberto Franco Cisneros

No Tomorrows

Have you ever stopped yourself

when thinking of your present life and

wishing for a better tomorrow?

Then realized tomorrow is elusive.

Tomorrow, the cradle of our hopes and dreams,

the savior of yesterday’s guilty misdeeds,

exonerated by the Holy One who shepherds the coldness of warm dirt

spreading it over our tomorrows to comfort our beleaguered hearts.

All those yesterdays that depleted your strength

sweating the daily tedium, doing the everyday chores,

tolerating the many crosses one must bear amid

the many prayers inculcated with pseudo hopes.

Those dastardly tomorrows that consumed your waking hours,

Where are they now?

Mostly forgotten, I would guess,

as children forget old discarded toys,

but other embedded memories carry on

festering like malignant sores.

Someday, there will be no tomorrows left

and all pain and queries will dissolve into the abyss of nothingness,

to experience a new narrative

but I will rejoice and kick my heels and sing the old spiritual

free at last, free at last, good God almighty, I’m free at last!

The Gift

Where am I in this sphere of God’s grace

devoid of a deeply felt brotherhood towards my fellow man?

I am me, but also am I not my brethren’s keeper,

yet, I feel my brother’s hostility.

Is my expression of love not enough?

I guess my love is suspect because of my façade.

Is sharing love distorted by a world of deceit and corruption?

Does the belief in preconceived lies make love suspect?

Is the lie heard and embraced more important

than the love expressed?

Why distrust the camaraderie of friendship

but trust the separateness of hatred?

People on the threshold of oblivion chose iniquity

rather than to accept each other’s Love.

God’s work is not religion.

It is Love incarnate; God put it in me, He put it in you.

You and I are not separate beings, just separate in upbringings.

Together we are the same.

We represent every breath God gave us

to aspire to live in harmony until we meet Him.

There is a light shining beyond the chaos, beyond the darkness,

beyond the purposeful destruction we mortals inflict on each on each other.

Will we reject His gift and destroy ourselves,

 or obey His first commandment, Do unto others… is it not our choice?

In This Moment Of Eternity

If I had never met you

I wonder what my life would be like

I know,

It would be a pitiful, miserable mess

A lot of man stuff strewn about in my man cave

But you came and made me clean up my room

Ah! Women…

I miss my mom

Now my thoughts are only of you

In my nightmares I was alone

But In my most joyful dreams you appeared

Entering my life at the lowest point in my life

Your words and warmth comforted me

You recognized my pain and pitched in

I will be eternally grateful

Now we are joined together

In this moment of forever

I will be there for you as we grow in years

Always in each other’s arms

Always in love

It is at these times of intimacy

That I do not miss my Mom.

Norberto Franco Cisneros

My poems have been published in the following publications: Indiana University Journal Chiricu; Avocet Review (Avocet Press); Snow Jewel (Grey Sparrow Press); Ilumen (Mouthfeel Press/ Sam’s Dot Publishing) and several others, including e-zines, Black Petals, Ruhatish and have been a Featured Poet in Poetry Soup.