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The "persona" poem has always fascinated me because, like acting, it allows you to slip inside the life of another person and see what it is like to breathe in their skin. It allows for escapism and dreams of grandeur. However, it is also a tricky form because the poet treads on what others know and/or believe about the person or character the poet attempts to give voice to-- if the poem is inauthentic it will not succeed. If I was forced to write only one type of poem, the persona poem would be the one for me.
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Song of La Malinche
You are my emperor of bricks
with your emerald forehead
of conquistadors.
I want to tell you
your eyes are the matadors’
stained summer.
I want to sink beneath
your cold saintly elbow
in the golden dark.
You are the tree of ships
singing of capture
with your walk
of kissed nails.
Render me.
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Bridget Kelley-Lossada is a Los Angeles writer who received her Master of Fine Arts in poetry from Antioch University, Los Angeles. Bridget's poetry has appeared in several anthologies and various print and online journals such as Inkwell, 51%, Moondance, Goblin-Fruit, Invisible Plane (Spout Graphic Press), The Pagan's Muse (Citadel), Blue Arc West (Tebot Bach), and Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po Mailing List (Red Hen Press). She currently resides in Pasadena with her husband and two young sons. You can find her on the web at http://dreamsoftrespass.typepad.com.