Dear Miguel, I know you wanted your wife
to write to you while you were in jail,
and to see your son,
and that I am unknown to you
but I must say
you are like an angel who came down
to wrestle with each of us,
those who breathe the air of poetry.
I send you my love,
even though
my leg is now lame
and my heart beats unevenly
from the fumes of life.
The goats of your poetry chewed on the dry roots
of the brown hills around my house
while the Spanish sun baked my compassion
so it burst from its paper chrysalis and
arose potent, sublime with wings,
with fiery heated wings!
You should know Miguel, your glowing thunder
is still here,
resident in red molten clouds of the soul
grappling with me in the uneven rhythms of the night.
Thank you for reading my unexpected letter my sudden friend.
I will visit you and then, I hope, we will talk.
Ian Trousdell
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/people-reply-to-a-letter-from-miguel-hernandez/
