Poet, Activist, Community Organizer

Salima Rivera was born in 1946 in Isabel, Puerto Rico. Rivera became a notable poet and community figure in her late teens and early twenties within the Chicago Latino literary renaissance. Salima Rivera was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
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This week, Rivera's work was chosen to be highlighted due to the richness of detail, vivid imagery, rawness, and authenticity exhibited in her work.
Erotica Sweet
by Salima Rivera
For Oscar—There are no words
When I think of you babe,
a soft snow falls lightly
down my back
turning into steam
on my full brown thighs.
An ocean appears
threatening to dash me
against the hot sand,
spinning me helplessly
into the mouth
of a hungry sky.
Cocaine and weed
envy the high you give me
unable to re-create
the intensity of the world
you conjure up with a snap
of a smile.
When you’re on my mind,
I bubble and boil
cooking like thick salsa
spicing up the air around me.
I breathe a music Mick Jagger
can only dream about,
dancing to an ancient rhythm
born in the depths
of my womb—yeah!
When you’re on my mind,
I lay back and close my eyes,
dragging in the rich thick smoke of our loving—
spinning and whirling
stoned on the thought
of you Babe.
Contradictions
by Salima Rivera
I am a contradiction;
a quiet woman listening to the breathing
of her children as they sleep.
I scream and yell at them when awake.
I’m proud of the knowledge
I’ve gained through the years;
ashamed of my ignorance,
hypocrisies, fears.
I seek a god I know little of;
denying his presence in moments of need.
I cry, “I LOVE YOU!”
in raging desire;
a love that’s illusion
like the god that I seek.
I care about friends for the people they are;
yet despise the people
for the friends they are not.
I endure life
with laughter and tears
believing only
in the truth
of my smile.
For Lillian
Died: Our vows to love, honor, and cherish.
Time: Left suddenly on a bright summer day
Cause of Death: misgivings, duplicity
and lack of faith.
The dearly departed left behind
a discarded lover
who has inherited an estate of left over memories
and a grievous soul.
The deceased will be remembered
for the laughter and joy
that had brought us together
in a happier time.
Services will be held in the heart,
its body interred in the past.
Please send no flowers.
Obituary
by Salima Rivera
Source: Poetry Foundation (poetry foundation.com)