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Nina Rubinstein Alonso is a member of the Somerville Bagel Bards, and has been published in such places as Ploughshares, and The New Yorker. She is editor of the Cambridge based journal Constellations.

Dry Garden — Madrid

Nina Rubinstein Alonso

Dry garden empty of wonders masses of sad
petunias wilted falling over on San Antonio Street
bunches of gardenias collapsing en masse though
gardeners keep watering as it’s that hot a desert

I hear a woman speaking French disparaging
Madrid’s botanical garden dismissive unsympathetic
says they’re leaving and probably we are too though keep
visiting El Prado pulled by the paintings the paintings

treasure house with almost too many gifts we found
Ingres and Gredos hanging in a barren utilitarian area as if
forgotten in someone’s back hall and stand enchanted
can’t even walk by a cafe if Fernando fancies bocadillos

have to stop though being here’s much like a dream
keep thinking I’ll look out the window and see
Walden Street or Harvard Square not towers in curious
quasi-Italianate style as if the architect couldn’t decide

what to do with those roofs and cornices though we’ve
had more than enough foul atmosphere eyes burning
air so deeply parched that yesterday I stepped through a
gush of water washing the street and was instantly dry.

— Nina Rubinstein Alonso

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