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IF I LEAVE by Alice Maldonado Gallardo

We have no guarantees of tomorrow…

We never know when we are going to leave this plane of existence. Since I was diagnosed with an incurable disease 6 years ago, I have felt closer to life and death. I wanted to write a poem for my family, especially my beloved son, to remind them that I will always love them and that love transcends time and space. I will always be with them.
Photography "Dreamscapes" by Ian Plant


If I Leave
By Alice Maldonado


Do not worry if I leave.
Do not cry and suffer.
I only left one dream,
you will find me in another.

I will embrace you in stardust
while you sleep.
I will enter your heart,
I will become part of you,
and guard it forever.
My light in every cell,
in every breath,
in every beat
of your soul.

My strength is now your strength.
Take from me what you need.
I will be the dragonfly
teaching you how to live.

If I leave,
just smile,
close your eyes,
and find me inside
the womb of eternity.

If I leave,
just remember the light in my eyes
when I looked at you.
Nourish your soul
with my love
being reborn in you,
that is how you heal a wound.

If I leave,
promise me
that you will let me free
from all anguish and guilt.
Do not capture me
in your pain.
Do not hold me
inside your fears.

Let me free to roam 
the beginning and the end
of the universe.
Let me free to fire
each and every star.

If I leave,
let me be
free.

Alice Maldonado Gallardo: I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1966, but at the age of 14 moved with my family to Massachusetts. I studied Latin American Studies at Mount Holyoke College where I was a Frances Perkins Scholar. After graduation I attended Loyola Law School but withdrew to pursue other interests. I worked as Assistant Editor and later as Web and Promotion Manager at the University of Massachusetts Press. I have also worked as a real estate appraiser, translator, secretary, substitute teacher, small business owner and web developer. I live with my teenage son in Amherst, Massachusetts. My first poetry book in Spanish "Paraiso Abandonado" published with Golden Dragonfly Press, in March 2015, is available here.Three of my poems have been published in an online journal: The Elephant Journal. You can connect with me on Facebook here. 


~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~ 
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