Robin Rosen Chang: “Sagrada Familia”
SAGRADA FAMILIA
Its carved figures—
angels, saints,
and shepherds—
intertwine with
iguanas, birds, giant
snails, braids of snake,
and turtles carrying towers
topped with painted fruits—
oranges, grapes, berries—
all climbing and kissing
the sky. The sun
kneels, floods
its beams through
stained glass windows.
A deluge of color!
This is what Gaudi
cared about:
God. Nature. Light.
In nearby palms,
parrots squawk and
sound like the cries
of a woman
I still try to understand.
She can’t be here—
but what would she do
now if she could?
She’d drink this light,
these brilliant reds
and auric blues—
like water.
Robin Rosen Chang’s poetry has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Journal, Cream City Review, Diode, among others. She was the recipient of the Oregon Poetry Association’s Fall 2018 Poet’s Choice Award and an honorable mention for Spoon River Poetry Review‘s 2019 Editors’ Prize. Her debut full-length collection, The Curator’s Notes, is forthcoming from Terrapin Books in 2021.