I Believe

by Gloria Nazzaretta
Poetry
When I see a golden sunset I believe.
I believe in hair color and oolong tea. My ancestors
carry me. I believe my dreams illuminate. I have
dreams for my friends. Sleep is instructive, as
waking. I believe the human brain is our skin. When
my skin tightens I listen. I believe words are things,
images lodged between subcutaneous layers of
skin. I believe the emperor wears no clothes.
I believe it essential to bless food. I believe I am
protected by Eloheim while I sleep. We are the
unseen. I believe illness can be healed by shiatsu
and Dylan music. I believe shyness can be
overcome.

I believe I love you.

I believe in my mother’s prayers and my father’s
lineage. I believe in the first day of class reaching
past comfort. Joining. Once beholding Fall’s glisten
on a wild rose, I believed. White tree roses
fragrant blooms curl over my south lattice wall
grows beside flowering lavender.

I believe you every time you say, “I’ll call.”

I believe in love at first sight. I love my astringent
rosemary and flowering aromatic sage. I believe in
cleansing air from negative thoughts when smudging
a fresh batch of sage. I refuse to see what others see and
seek what they don’t. At the end of a long day,
when I see a golden sunset, I believe.

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© 2013 Fresno City College—The Review / Ram's Tale is a publication of student writing and artwork from the Humanities and Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Divisions at Fresno City College. Authors retain all rights to their work.