In Honor of Indigenous Peoples Day: Featured Poetry by Antonio S. Galica

Tightness in 

my chest

Returns at 

the thought 

Of your absence 

I confess that

I once was 

Lost but

Your gaze was 

A beacon leading 

Me to shore

I walk the strand

Of beach

Alone yet

No longer 

Unguided 

If and We

Are giants 

Of words

Two letters 

Holding burdens 

That press

On shoulder 

Blades but

Are never cut

I’ve gained

Through loss

And it’s 

Opposite is

Also true

Balance is

Not merely 

An idea 

When you are

The scales

Weighing the

Injustice of

One’s self

The beach stretches

Before my gaze

The waves play 

With sand grains

In multitudes

Spray mists

My face

Like the tears

I keep hidden 

Like gem stones 

The first time

You think

It’s only you and

Your reaction 

To the change

In the way

Things are now

But when 

It happens 

Twice you

Realize that

We were born

To be broken

Antonio S. Galica is an author, illustrator and a descendant of the Taino Indios. He was born on Staten Island and has worked as a civil servant, caring for the disabled for more than twenty-five years. Writing is his healing and poetry in particular has helped him understand his roots in relation to this chaotic age.