Flower Explorations 10 by Valentina Luna
Vismai Rao | On Valentine’s Day, Plato’s cave & a dead grandmother
I watch the vendor girl drag a cloud
of red balloon-hearts across a blue Bay of Bengal—
She wasn’t dead
my grandmother in last night’s dream.
I was so certain so fully certain she wasn’t dead
the shock of her absence on waking
was too much. The shore is littered with crab holes
into which tiny mole crabs may or may not
have disappeared. If I sit with my back
to the sea, the sun would rise
from the west on east-facing windowpanes
countable across a wall of orange squares, the ocean
a trickle of kitchen sounds, the sea
& the waves my grandmother tempering dal:
sputter of mustard seeds, heeng, curry leaves—
She brings me a spoonful for taste.
Leaves half a dozen syllables in my mouth.
Vismai Rao's poems appear in Salamander, RHINO, Rust + Moth, Pithead Chapel, Psaltery & Lyre, bath magg, Jet Fuel Review, Barren Magazine, & elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Orison Anthology. She serves as Poetry Editor for The Night Heron Barks. You can find her on Twitter @vismairao
Born in 1995 and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Valentina Luna moved to Mexico City to study at Universidad Iberoamericana where she obtained a BBA in Business Administration in 2017. In CDMX Valentina studied art intermittently, until moving to New York City in 2023 to continue her studies at The Art Students League of New York, Parsons School of Design, and New York School of the Arts.
Valentina's diverse background has allowed her to gain experience in various disciplines, and enrich her multi-cultural heritage and unique perspective, continuing her journey into the play of light and color, capturing the essence of the world that envelops us, while remaining firmly grounded in the realms of pleasure and aesthetics. Valentinas' work draws profound inspiration from the dynamic culture and lush landscapes of her homeland, Colombia.
Valentina's diverse background has allowed her to gain experience in various disciplines, and enrich her multi-cultural heritage and unique perspective, continuing her journey into the play of light and color, capturing the essence of the world that envelops us, while remaining firmly grounded in the realms of pleasure and aesthetics. Valentinas' work draws profound inspiration from the dynamic culture and lush landscapes of her homeland, Colombia.
