[Say that I am welcomed, that I have gone mad]

After Maria Elena Cruz Varela, for Linnea

INTRO: In this poem, the speaker turns toward intimacy and longing. It traces the way two people find their way back to each other through desire and memory. This journey is like a kind of quiet rebirth. It moves through sorrow, touch, and the small miracles of being seen. It explores how love can bind wounds with light. This makes us feel, even for a moment, that we are good. We are free, and our bodies belong together.

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Say that I am welcomed—
that I’ve gone mad,
that sadness, at last,
is a country conquered

by the fragrance of flowers.
That dawn circles my heart
like a restless tiger,
poised to leap—

from my hands
to her waist, once more.
Say the history I ransom
with salt and time is mine,

and mine alone.
That it is good to be spent,
to blaze like a match,
and whisper in her bed:

my name is the only name

that matters.
That the sea will find her
wandering the desert,

that the falling stars she gathers
will crown her daughter’s hair.
Tell her my heart
was born in her gaze,

that it is good
to release the caged birds.
Say we’ve bound
our wounds with light,

that we are good,
that we are free,
that our debts are paid—
and our bodies, entwined,

have become luminous.

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© 2025 Chris Leibow — Salt Lake City artist and poet.
poetry, collage art, mixed media,
Explore more art at leibow.art.