local_library The Waves at Isla Negra

by Sam Hamod

Published in Issue No. 115 ~ December, 2006
(for my wife, Amina, and Pablo Neruda)

always there are the waves,

at Isla Negra

unless you understand the

motion of the rocks

as they stir

against the pounding surf

you will never understand

the motion of

loving a place

or a woman,

each moves

in their own way, undulating

like willows

high up

on cliffs as they extend

their branches downward,

enticing you

as do the waves

at the Isla Negra

so many colours,

so many rhythms,

so many songs

heard

and unheard

known only in the heart

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Sam Hamod has published 10 books of poems and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. He has taught at the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, Princeton, Michigan, and Howard, and his most recent book is Just Love Poems For You (Ishmael Reed Pub./Contemporary Poetry Press), 2006.