from Of Dark Love

By Francisco X. Alarcón b. 1954 Francisco X. Alarcon

Translated By Francisco Aragón

there has never been sunlight for this love,

like a crazed flower it buds in the dark,

is at once a crown of thorns and

a spring garland around the temples

a fire, a wound, the bitterest of fruit,

but a breeze as well, a source of water,

your breath—a bite to the soul,

your chest—a tree trunk in the current

make me walk on the turbid waters,

by the ax that breaks this lock,

the dew that weeps from trees

if I become mute kissing your thighs,

it’s that my heart eagerly

searches your flesh for a new dawn

Francisco X. Alarcón, from “Of Dark Love” from From the Other Side of Night/Del otro lado de la noche. Copyright © 2002 by Francisco X. Alarcón. Reprinted by permission of University of Arizona Press.

Source: From the Other Side of Night/Del otro lado de la noche? (University of Arizona Press, 2002)

Biography

A prolific writer for adults and children, Francisco Alarcón was born in California, although he grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico. Alarcón returned to the United States to attend California State University at Long Beach and earned his MA from Stanford University. His collections of poetry for adults include Tattoos (1985); Body in Flames/Cuerpo en llamas (1990); De amor oscuro/Of Dark Love (1991); Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation . . .

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