LUIS CUAUHTEMOC BERRIOZABAL

ABSENCE OF HOPE

There is an absence
of hope in her gaze,
an apathy of years
multiplied by grief.
Her words like shards of
glass sputter out. In
an old picture
on her dresser light
beams from her smile. Joy
fills the picture frame. What
happened to that face?
What madness extracted
that smile, that light? What
pill or shot could bring
back the hope absent
in her dark, brown eyes?