Iowa Writes

BLANCA DATUIN
Desert Wind


Time was when I sucked victuals of my rainforest.
Its scent of air blew garden fresh into my nose:
Its depth tasted like the meadow of my heart.
But the wind struck; oh, such fiendish sweep
that devoured all, all that I fed on: the habitat
of my ancestors, mirrors of my past, the
greenness of my universe.

Now its silence turns into searing scourge
that dries up the spring of my dreams
and crumples the core of my soul.
Sun of man, why do you burn the earth of my being?
You brush away the ashes of my past,
and leave me with nothing, not even the remains
of the night to lull me in the arms of Morpheus

About Iowa Writes

Since 2006, Iowa Writes has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers (whether they have Iowa roots or live here now) and work published by Iowa journals and publishers on The Daily Palette. Iowa Writes features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction twice a week on the Palette.

In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Find out more about submitting by contacting iowa-writes@uiowa.edu


BLANCA DATUIN

Blanca Datuin was a graduate student at the University of Iowa's Department of International Communication while her husband was with the Iowa Writers' Workshop. "My two sons having been born in Iowa City, we consider ourselves Iowan," she says. At present she is a teacher at the Los Angeles Unified School District.

This page was first displayed
on June 28, 2007

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