Homes
How many places
have I loved?
a languid houseboat in Srinagar
a moto taxi in New Delhi
the duomo in Milano
a Beijing intersection cut into
bicycles, limousines and rickshaws
a corner in Suzhou
where a money change woman
whispered at me for my dollars
the molten ash mountain
leading to Mount Etna
and the fire always burning
its way to the clouds
because I was a quiet witness
to these places
they opened and
let me in
bared their secrets
and I carried them away
my memory stuffed
with their sights,
scents and sounds
my heart longing for
those places that
made me their daughter
and gave me a home
City of Lights
In Paris there is always
the temptation
to eat too much
the city offers me
the soft center
of the baguette
like birdsong exploding
on the tongue
the fat in the hundred layer
croissant capturing mornings
and jam in its folds
the eclairs exclaiming
their devotion to the
cream and offering it
like chimes echoing
through the mouth
other tourists go to the Seine
and the Louvre
I go to the chocolatier
and the patisserie
and eat my way
though the city
of lights
Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer whose work has been acclaimed internationally in places such as the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy, and at La Mama in New York City. Her stage plays have been produced in NYC at The American Theater of Actors, The Raw Space, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, and The Lamb’s Theater. She holds a BA in French Literature from CUNY and her poems have appeared in The Lake, Ghost City Review, The Literary Yard, About Place Journal, and Kairos and are forthcoming in Hawai’i Review. Her poetry was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Sparks of Calliope 