Love Poem: La Isla Sets Me Free
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Written by: Allison Ballard

La Isla Sets Me Free

Amor, you allude like a cloud
To something great
Your name, a promise of Jerusalem
Your exclusive mouth, like water
on my dry lips and deeply vacant chest…
 
I’ve never touched a cloud
Nor known the inevitable fog
Of falling into you
But now that I know…
 
You’re not even Tel Aviv to me
Nor San Juan, nor Bayamon
You’re a makeshift castle
A colonizer
Pressing your smooth arms
Tight around my shrugging native heart
 
At the chance
I offered my hair, my amber perfume
I made my eyes a place to bathe
Your obviously filthy feet
Offhandedly, you spoke of the sea
But all I see- is violence in your city
You spoke of passion as though
It’s synonymous with love
But I see fatherless children
You’re not that man who saves
But the tide which takes me away…
 
A convincing title
A bait and switch
A hook for virgin lips
And now I’m a bud among weeds
That are due to be cut down
 
You are among me
Take your shot now
Since I know you shoot me down
Leave me alone, cabron-
You always leave me wanting
And I’m not fighting anymore
I’m dancing on the shore, Puerto Rico
This is my story, here
And la isla sets me free