As soon as our eyes locked
My life turned into hell,
You imprisoned me
In a self destructive cell.
How my heart longs
That we could be together,
This romance is lost
To an impossible adventure.
You gave me a heavy heart
With a broken soul,
A reckless mind
And a love you stole.
You became my weakness
Which you’ll never know,
What I actually feel for you
As I’ll never show.
Instead I’ll hide you here
As we could never be,
I’ll write you into
Heartbreaking poetry.

K

Letter from Kansas
by Robert Okaji

Caro amico,
Driving the stretch to Junction City,
I look for familiar faces in the cars
we pass, but see only strange grasses
gliding by. Three weeks ago
I slept on a stone-littered hilltop
overlooking the Bay of Naples.
Now the prairie laps at our front door.
A mile from the house two corralled bison
munch dull hay thrown daily
from a truck’s flat bed, and past that
the Discount Center’s sign
spells America. What I wouldn’t give
for a deep draught of Pozzuoli’s
summer stench and the strong
yellow wine that Michele’s father
makes. We mixed it with the gardener’s
red, creating our own bouquet,
remember? And here they say
I’m too young to buy beer and wine.
Without them the food is flavorless,
like the single language spoken.
I understand it all,
and miss the difficulty. Maybe Texas
will be better. Ci…