Radames Ortiz
Near the End
Other Poems by Radames Ortiz

Alleys | Front Yards |
The Limestone Jungle
Patiently waiting
in an empty house
Plastic cups and coffee
cans line the walls

Time slowly passing
The moon dripping
me into the
late afternoon

In this drunken room
you're laughter
finds me in a
circle of glaring faces

In the avenue of trees
and green lawns I remain
silent among movements
of dark-skinned men

where dreams break
on the horizon, floating
across space and into
the aging cracks of my skin
Radames Ortiz is the author of a chapbook of poems, Below the Surface, which was illustrated by artist Tiziano D. Hernandez. His poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Azimuth, Barriolife.com, Fusion Ink, 2 River View, Adirondack Review, The Mesquite Review, among other journals. His awards include the Fabian Worsham Award for Poetry and the Megaera Award for Poetry.

He is the editor of both The Bayou Review, the literary journal for the University of Houston-Downtown and the online journal Coyote Magazine: Bringing Literature and Art Across Borders.
All contents copyright The New Journal, 2001.