Lydia Cortes

So You Say You’re Gonna Learn

So you say you wanna learn my lingo?
You tell me how you love how it sounds sprinkled around your
English
Como estás como te llamas
Como que?? Que te como que te como que me comes. Que??

You tell me how you love how it sounds sprinkled around your
English
How many sprinkles are needed to assuage the beast
Como que?? Que te como que te como que me comes. Que??
The best things in this world never were free

How many sprinkles are needed to assuage the beast
The world is your luminous pearl
The best things in this world never were free
The world once fell dead black and soulful

The world is your luminous pearl
Were you ever gifted a celestial diamond
The world once fell dead black and soulful
Red flags grazed the radiant sun

Were you ever gifted a celestial diamond
Blue glass rarely evolves into midnight
Red flags grazed the radiant sun
We are the epitome of cool essence

Blue glass rarely evolves into midnight
Stairways to stars are sublime
We are the epítome of cool essence
Gossamer wings are often imaginary

Stairways to stars are sublime
Fire escapades breed strange fruit
Gossamer wings are often imaginary
I lusted for ruby and sapphire

Fire escapades breed strange fruit
Tulips were never discounted as frivolous
I lusted for ruby and sapphire
Diaphanous skin is beloved for its
aquiescence

Tulips were never discounted as frivolous
The grayness of pink a vision in white
Diaphanous skin is beloved for its acquiescence
The secret isn’t the issue of revenge

The grayness of pink a vision in white
When we came our uniqueness was torrential
The secret isn’t the issue of revenge
Glacial faces harbored mysteries engraved in grooves

When we came our uniqueness was torrential
The key to life was long ago forsaken
Glacial faces harbored mysteries engraved in grooves
Moonlight became your silver tresses

The key to life was long ago forsaken
Synonyms ban self serving repetition
Moonlight became your silver tresses
Ending eternity is self preservation

Synonyms ban self serving repetition
Did you ever see a dream walking
Ending eternity is self preservation
Orangeness fills the soul with alacrity

Did you ever see a dream walking
The matter of the heart is the heart of the matter
Orangeness fills the soul with alacrity
Yellow was never a mean villain as was gold

The matter of the heart is the heart of the matter
Let’s get loud to get through you gotta do it
Yellow was never a mean villain as was gold
The fog heard it was useless to the world and dissipated

Let’s get loud to get through you gotta do it
The thrill of a lifetime is an inventive death
The fog heard it was useless to the world and dissipated
Do you believe in love enough to be in it

The thrill of a lifetime is an inventive death
Deception is the handmaiden of cautious optimism
Do you believe in love enough to be in it
Big thoughts get lost in the minutiae of pleasure

Deception is the handmaiden of cautious optimism
White roses lie about their purity to get over grand sadness
Big thoughts get lost in the minutiae of pleasure
Did you forget how to forget

White roses lie about their purity to get over grand sadness
I’m a girl and just wanna have fun
Did you forget how to forget
Perfume cannot hide the stuff of fear

I’m a girl and just wanna have fun
The tragedy of spoiled dreams is in the rotting
Perfume cannot hide the stuff of fear
Hope triumphs only if you’re not waiting for it to boil

The tragedy of spoiled dreams is in the rotting
Getting back to the middle works more effectively than trying for
beginnings or ends
Hope triumphs only if you’re not waiting for it to boil
Places of comfort smell of homemade cornbread

Getting back to the middle works more effectively than trying for
beginnings or ends
Songs of love translate the original with cleaving proclivities
Places of comfort smell of homemade cornbread
Never mind the other side of the river when it never meant better

Songs of love translate the original with cleaving proclivities
I was born this way with no apologies or family
Never mind the other side of the river when it never meant better
At the end of the day some are born some die and some just
breathe

I was born this way with no apologies or family
Running to make the train was how she began the day out of breath
At the end of the day some are born some die and some just
breathe
Fortune was never intrusive

Lydia Cortés is the author of the collections of poetry, Lust for Lust and Whose Place. She has also been widely published in many anthologies. She has been awarded residencies in Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Valparaiso in Mojacar, Spain and at The MacDowell Colony. She is currently at work on a poetry memoir about herself and the late, great Nuyorican poet and playwright Pedro Pietri.