Upon Hearing That Juan Felipe Herrera Was Named the Next U.S. Poet Laureate

At this moment,

my heart exploded into sun flowers.

The tips of my fingers, toes and tongues

 sprouted beautiful  lush greens,

 allowing my words to pour out of vines

 that ripened into swollen squash  ,

 with tender  creamy yellow flesh.

A new bloom with each step forward .

 The fruit ,

settling along the ground I walk on,

 growing out in every direction .

The squash open,

 seeds pour out at my feet

  carrying poems on their newborn skin.

 This California is fertile.

The people sow and grow dreams and songs into the land.

The intensity of the heat

and the tenderness of the sea mist

 guards and produces bounties

 and on this day,

every field crop burst out poetry ,

every mountain and sand dune,

 let words ,

of all languages,

roll over them,

with no halt in sight.

We have awakened to a new day,

and I myself,

cannot remember what borders and limits feel like.

Gracias.