Oh Emma; Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
– Poetry by Livia Hermiz –
Oh Emma
If Lady Liberty could open her copper and iron lips and formulate words, would she emit French, a French accent? Would she say your fatigué, your pauvre, your huddled masses? Would she be nervous for immigrants? Would she look toward the Haitian boats in the harbor? Would she feel safe with her green skin? Would she be proud of us, the country? Or would she scold us like a mother? Would she be ashamed? Would she weep? Would she torch the 1%? Want to drown them off the teeming shores? What would she say?
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
We slow danced to the silent
solemn sound of our marriage
erupting like a supernova.
The room burned around us,
searing our former hopes
and dreams into our new past.
We tried to hear the music
play a song of the future,
as our history together
turned to ash.
About the Author – Livia Hermiz
Livia Hermiz was born and raised in San Diego, California, where she eventually attended the University of California, San Diego and received a Bachelor of Arts in literature and creative writing. She attended Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in January of 2019 received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, with a focus in fiction.
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