Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal was born in Mexico, lives in California, and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poems online and in print have appeared in Blue Collar Review, Mad Swirl, Yellow Mama Magazine, and ZYX. His latest poetry chapbook, Make the Light Mine, was published by Kendra Steiner Editions. Luis recommends St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Wanton winds,
take my broken songs
to the riverside
and let them drown.
I need room
for new songs of hope.
Turn up the voltage
and burn out the light bulbs.
Step off the pedestal
and conform to nothing.
I shuffle the deck
and the world lays flat.
The bluer the sky the darker
astronomy becomes.
I will walk on my own, stand on
my own two feet, keep my distance
always. I cannot swallow what
she attempts to serve. I must
look out for my best interests.
conversation or a song
to fill its spaces. The night
remains quiet. I discover