A Daughter's Cure for
Lou Gehrig's Disease
for my mother 1928-1989
Sew you a dress
woven of rose petals
shimmering, your garden in May rain.
Color your hair
dye of pomegranates.
Wash each strand
your muscles return.
I am the opposite of
Delilah.
A chamomile sponge bath,
talc powder of yellow butterflies
from Macondo. Dust your
skin until Mauricio Babilonia
floats in your eyes.
Wheelchair left behind
you walk, your legs full
your ankles keep a cumbia beat,
the dress rubs you like a cat,
hint of rose rises,
a loose thread follows you
I pull the thread,
wrap it
around my finger
tight.
Alicia Vogl Sáenz
Alicia Vogl Sáenz is a native Angelino of Ecuadorian and Czechoslovakian
descent. In her work, she enjoys exploring imagery from Los Angeles, Ecuador,
hair salons, and science. A graduate of California State University Northridge
in Spanish Literature, she has also collaborated with visual and sound artists.
She is a member of the L.A. Poetry Festival coordinating committee. She was
a featured reader in the Writers in Focus series at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art and was most recently published in Blue Mesa Review, and Grand Street
#66. Alicia lives by the philosophy - It will always grow back- taught to her
by her hairdresser mama.