Old and young
from all over the world
write to Juliet
about the Romeos
in their lives.
The mail arrives
in drifts, like manna
on the sunlit desert
of a balcony.
Letters from strangers
arrive, with questions
about all matters lovelorn
and wistful.
No one seems to mind
that Juliet is both dead
and fictional.
For women in love
life on earth
is a paradise
of wishing.
About the Author: Margarita Engle is the Cuban–American author of books about the island, most recently The Surrender Tree, Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom (Henry Holt & Co., 2008). The Poet Slave of Cuba (Henry Holt & Co., 2006) received many honors, including the American Library Association's Pura Belpre Medal, an International Reading Association Award, and the Americas Award, presented at the Library of Congress.
Copyright © 2008 by Margarita Engle. The poem may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission.