Live Encounters Poetry & Writing July 2026
To My Brother, poems by Alicia Viguer-Espert.
To My Brother
From the bedroom you listen
to Zeus’ thunderous messages, the sea
and the pulse of waves afraid to die.
You dream of the infinite ineffable,
those moments of your childhood
when you hold the ball triumphally
determined not to let it go, while
your ears fill with loud voices
from the ones pulling it from you.
You, a sleepwalker child without books or backpack,
score a goal, your parents buy you an ice cream,
the sun illuminates your mud-covered uniform,
an honor as big as the bestowed on the valiant
masked warrior, El Guerrero del Antifaz. *
Of the child you were, only pictures remain,
a wooden horse who once took you to Damascus
now covered with dust in the garret,
the silk scarf you stole from your first girlfriend.
But today, your last, we promenade arm on arm
by the garden of gone remembrances,
comforted to notice that ours, are still here.
* A cartoon hero of the 60’s in Spain, who covered his face with a mask.
The Name
Your name tastes of lavender, star anis,
bitter herbs never mentioned in the Santoral; *
parents had to imagine a winter day to celebrate.
The tramway where your name was decided
echoed, between the rattle of wheels, your dad’s desire,
your brother’s hope, your mom’s dreams for you.
At night, hands on a belly as round as a ring,
she plucked from earth names of flowers,
jewels, planets and entire constellations.
And in that public transport, two people
tore three pieces of paper, wrote three names,
mixing them into the darkness of a fedora hat.
The ten-year-old boy, favored Carmen, because
Bizet’s Opera, dad holding a fantasy of a truthful child
choose its meaning in Greek, mom wished you Luz.
The innocent hand, picked one of the papers,
hesitated, returned it to the hat before unfolding it,
opened the next one-, and that-time it stuck.
You were not always truthful though,
often lied to avoid being grounded, get away
with chores you never intended to complete.
When older, you searched Medieval prayer books
where gilded names of martyrs are stenciled;
yours was never recorded with All Saints.
But when your dad called your-not so Christian name
to stroll by the river hand on hand, you inhaled
the unequaled perfume of mystery you are.
* List of saints celebrated by the Catholic Church.
* Luz, light in Spanish and also, a female name.
© Alicia Viguer-Espert
Alicia Viguer-Espert, born and raised in Valencia, Spain is a three-times Pushcart nominee and a one-time Best of The Net. Winner of the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival (2017) with her chapbook “Holding a Hummingbird.” Two chapbooks, “Out of the Blue Womb of the Sea” (2020) and “Four in 1” (2022) published by Four Feather Press. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies as well as Panoply, Amethyst Review, Lummox, Altadena Poetry Review, Odyssey, Valiant Scribe, Live Encounters, Galway Review, Thimble and Gyroscope.