By Hector Rodriguez
PROMPT — What is Love?
Living in darkness.
I’ve yearned for closeness.
Not seeing has not limited my search for love.
While I can’t see, I’m sensitive to the fragrance of perfumes.
Darkness has heightened my senses.
I’ve created an image of a woman to love.
She responds to my affection.
In my dreams, the image appears, and we embrace.
Her scent and softness excite me, and we become one.
I feel and experience the excitement of love.
I’m not a stranger to love.
Daily I search for that soft voice and the sweet scent of my creation.
Someday I will caress and embrace not an image but my true love.
Like you, I need to love and be loved.
Hector Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico and migrated to the United States in 1949. He attended the City College of New York and the Columbia School of Social Work. After he retired from the mental health field, he became interested in writing, and shortly after his retirement, he began to explore poetry. Poetry became a way to release stress and express his feelings during the COVID pandemic. His interest in writing evolved and led him to join two groups: The Sarah Lawrence College’s writing group and The Bronx Council on The Arts where his work has appeared. He also published his work in The Journal of Expressive Writing and read his work in their live Open Mics. His other interests are volunteering, reading, cycling, swimming, and hiking. Hector writes from Yonkers, New York.