New Poetry by Nina Rubinstein Alonso

In Madrid          

Long train ride passing thirsty farmland

slow bullocks in the fields rocky country with

boulders rolled by glaciers curious configurations

near rivers shrinking dry finally reach Madrid

Hotel Mora on Calle del Prado with a balcony

facing the street no way to avoid hearing arguments

getting physical in outside cafes but we prefer

this energy to weary dreary La Coruña 

take a walk through El Retiro park watch water

gushing neatly in irrigation ditches toward trees

otherwise the whole place would blow away

as it’s a desert hot dry sidewalks cracked and parched

hard as cement a small green pond perched center

guarded by 18th century lion statues with boys

climbing their backs some couples rowing a few 

in pedal boats others nearby in a cafe then I realize

black people have been sitting there being ignored by waiters

because they’re black until they give up quietly walk away

unmistakable insult of a woman and two girls treated worse 

than invisible by staff pretending not to see humans  

Plaza Mayor attracts flocks of swallows wheeling flying

criss cross circling and last night two men stood clapping

for their dogs without leashes hell no not here but we

can’t afford fancy restaurants glittery expensive places

with waiters in cummerbunds linen tables set with four forks

find a cheap bar serving sardines fried squid and salad where

people bring babies all hours of the night but I’m mired in

immediacies of stifled effort mixed with exhaustion as I can’t 

fix what’s nasty and ugly yet can’t let it go though it’s time for

my dance workout while Fernando’s smoking on the balcony.

- © Nina Rubinstein Alonso 2021

Nina's work has appeared in Ploughshares, The New Yorker, Ibbetson Street, etc. Her book, "This Body", was published by David Godine Press, and her chapbook Riot Wake is upcoming from Cervena Barva Press. A story collection and novel are in the works as well as a collection of poems from travels in Spain, from which this poem is taken.  Nina is also a ballet teacher, and one of her dearest friends, the artist Heather Ellyard, lives in Victoria.