TINO
VILLANUEVA
DOING AWAY
WITH ABSENCE
Drawn
each to each
in some arrangement of ourselves,
we
are lifted away from twilight,
and
elsewhere
we
are going hand in hand by a river,
naming
the strength of all things flowing.
As
we advance, unhurried,
telling
each other our best truths,
a
moon sweeps out
serenely for miles around.
To
you, and through us,
love
is kind.
Copyright ã 1984 by Tino
Villanueva, from Shaking Off the Dark (Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press,
1998), ã 1998 by Tino Villanueva.