TWO GUITARS

BY VICTOR HERNÁNDEZ CRUZ
Two guitars were left in a room all alone
They sat on different corners of the parlor
In this solitude they started talking to each other
My strings are tight and full of tears
The man who plays me has no heart
I have seen it leave out of his mouth
I have seen it melt out of his eyes
It dives into the pores of the earth
When they squeeze me tight I bring
Down the angels who live off the chorus
The trios singing loosen organs
With melodious screwdrivers
Sentiment comes off the hinges
Because a song is a mountain put into
Words and landscape is the feeling that
Enters something so big in the harmony
We are always in danger of blowing up
With passion
The other guitar:
In 1944 New York
When the Trio Los Panchos started
With Mexican & Puerto Rican birds
I am the one that one of them held
Tight like a woman
Their throats gardenia gardens
An airport for dreams
I've been in theaters and cabarets
I played in an apartment on 102nd street
After a baptism pregnant with women
The men flirted and were offered
Chicken soup
Echoes came out of hallways as if from caves
Someone is opening the door now
The two guitars hushed and there was a
Resonance in the air like what is left by
The last chord of a bolero.



My favorite line is this, “Because a song is a mountain put into Words and landscape is the feeling that Enters something so big in the harmony.” Me, being one who writes music, I believe in this quote. The song is the final piece; the mountain is the final piece. The landscapes make up the mountains; the harmonies make up the entire piece. The small details on the mountain, the trees, the animals, the flowers, and such make up the landscape; the words make up the song.
In this poem, there are two guitars that speak, metaphorically. They speak to one another about the way they are treated by their owners and how they do not like them. I believe the writer takes good care of his guitar if he is able to put himself in an inanimate object’s perspective and be able to make it feel.