Sunset and Feathers
Breathing in the wind.
Swallowed by the sky.
Nuevo.
SIEMPRE.
Something always is –
New!
A challenge
A story
A lesson…
Teachers in more ways than one,
Beads on the proverbial Rosary
Thumbed at by abuelitas in the
Glow of a candle.
I always ask her,
“Grandma, did you pray for me today?”
“Of course, I always do.” She’d say… as she always does.
You see,
That’s the beauty of us,
New Mexicans.
Men and women
Cracked from a different rib,
A place where pain
translates to attention just the same and we
Survive!
Through prayers and stories
We live on.
—
Carlos Contreras is a two-time national champion performance poet and local educator. Co-founder of JustWrite, Contreras leads writing workshops at an adult correctional facility. He also hosts the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Voces program. As part of Albuquerque’s Urban Verbs, Contreras creates alongside Colin Hazelbaker and Hakim Bellamy.
200 New Mexico Poems 
Carlos, Your poem today was particularly poignant in the wake of what happened Friday in New Town, Conn. Thank you! Kayce Verde