Christmas Ghost

Your ghost chases me
Every cold December you come.

Death you are gentle today.
Not that you could ever be
You haunt my dreams
A dead brother to grieve.

But I woke up to his voice
Reassuring that today, you have spared him
Relieved that in fact, a dream was a dream
In this reality, death was temporary.

The moon turned red last night
And in my dreams I found myself screaming once again
For help, for hope, only to hear it was too late.

Death you are kind tonight.
Though years ago you took the eldest
You have spared my sister.
I heard her voice say,
"Not today."

I will sleep in this comfort
But dream with fear
You still haunt me.

Death you are present.
And in the shadow of grief,
I find that death, you are conquered.

Christmas day, He is born.
And He is my promise.
He will die, only to rise
And,
Death you are no more.

-Noemi E. Garcia Rigsby

To: My late brother Ramon Joel
There is no parting with you
See you later.

From Mom And Dad

It's not the child's fault
Let them break open their gifts
We are masters of our fates
And while some argue we carry our parent's burdens
I say we go where we please,
Willingly.

No one ever told me to come here
To get away from there
Or to choose love over reason.
I did it all by myself.

I always wanted to see the snow
My mother was born by the jungle,
My father from the desert
Both whom crossed rivers and terrains to get me here.

Maybe I am like them a little bit
The determination, the perseverance
The hunger to keep going, to more than survive,
To make it.

To work hard not just for my dollar
But for those who will come after me.
They made no excuses, and they left me with none for myself.
Even they, are not an excuse.

So while I whimper with longings for their sun
To melt my cold
I remember what brought me here:
Me.

And this future, this hope to do something greater
in a place that runs against me
Is perhaps the best gift they ever gave me.
The gift of being able to give something
to myself.

-Noemi E. Garcia Rigsby

To: Mom and Dad With Love. Thank you.

Catalina

You are my paradise
Like little pieces of sea glass by the shore
Pristine like the blue waters
In you I find my escape.

You are my joy
You are my cool breeze by the night
My tiny little island
Only for you and I.

You are my fantasy
Like a make believe world
You're traced by black lines
A caricature kissed with the breath of life.

You are my holiday
A reason to celebrate
With purpose to get away
To only come down to go up again.

You are my heaven
A promise of eternal and immortal
Even in death I find life.
Your arms: my resting place.

-Noemi Garcis Rigsby