from ‘poems for a brown eyed girl’

the earth

was in her brown eyes 

for they were the color 

of the soil 

after his abuelo

plowed the ground 

in the first days 

of spring

the trees

were in her brown eyes 

for they were the color 

of bark 

in the soft light 

of the sunrise and sunset

the sea

was in her brown eyes 

for they were the color 

of the water 

as it turned with sand and shells 

in the broken waves 

along the shore

he loved the plowed earth, 

walking through the cool dirt 

with bare feet

he loved the bark of the trees, 

climbing the smooth branches 

in the heat of the day

he loved the sea, 

floating naked 

in the gently rocking waters 

of the evening tide

she was the earth, 

the trees, 

the sea