Didi is the publisher of MiPoesias, MiPo Print, and the administrator/manager of the blog CafeCafe. Didi is also an established poet. She has been published by many online zines, including 3AM, TMP Irregular, Abalone Moon Journal, Tryst, Quill and Ink, and Teagans Anthology, to name a few. She has also had poetry recognized by the IBPC as one of the best of June 2001 ("Hemingway Has Another Drink"), May 2002 (Something Funny Happened on the Way to Reading Brukowski"), and June 2002 ("Bird in Space").
Other poems published by Didi include such titles as "Lady Godiva Rides Her Bike," "When Angels Die," "Los Espiritus," "The Weight of Catholicism," "Miami is the Face of Refuge," "Camelot’s Bed," and Mosquita Muerta Principle," to name a few.
I highlighted her work in my film review The Door In the Floor (2004), including her poem "The Novel According to John Irving."
Besides poetry, Didi also paints wonderful portraits of authors and poets. You can view some of her work at www.didimenendez.com. I'm including a portrait of Diego Keros for your review.
In commemoration of her birthday, I wanted to print a poem I read of hers earlier this year, in the spring, and was smitten by it, titled "Your Name." Instead, I will introduce another of her published titles, "The Lizard Catcher."
Happy Birthday, Didi. May you have a great day and a great new year.
"The Lizard Catcher"
by Didi Menendez
The lizard catcher
walks into my room
past her bedtime
asking for a glass of water -
what kind of mother would I be
if I said - go back to bed? -
Children in other houses are thirsty -
I give her milk instead,
indulge in my single parenting
place chocolate in there too --
compensating for her not having a father -
She wants me to tell her the story of the three little pigs -
the ones with a green, red and blue sock, I ask -
No, she says
Her glass still not half empty -
Oh, you mean the three little pigs that went to market?
No -
The ones that lived in a half a house
and had a wolf for a pet?
Something like that, she says --
She becomes the storyteller
smiling all the way --
When she finishes her milk,
the lizard catcher puts her glass quietly away -
back into the kitchen sink -
Handling it the same way
she held her catch from yesterday-
gently placed it among the leaves,
a little heart still beating -
after she had placed it in the palm of my hand
its baby head almost bigger than it's tail
rested against my grandmother's ring.
Life goes on without what is missing
as the lizard catcher goes back to bed.
4:11:39 PM  | |
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