We have been looking forward to reading Andrés N. Ordorica’s debut ever since we featured him in our ‘Introducing’ feature back in 2020. We’re delighted to share some of his poems from his wonderful collection, At Least This I Know.

Poems taken from At Least This I Know
By Andrés N. Ordorica
Published by 404 Ink

At least this I know

They say the sun never set upon the British Empire,
I do not know if that is true.

But I hear it spread from ocean to ocean,
from green seas to waters blue.

They say that once a man flew around the world in
Eighty Days,
I do not know if that is true.

But I hear he did it in a hot air balloon,
wind guiding him from one country to the next.

They say Alexander conquered the world at quite a
young age,
I do not know if that is true.

But I hear all were under his rule,
from the Adriatic to Syria, Babylon to India.

I hear there is a place in a land far away
where chimney houses guard children from danger,

where fairies live near them and hide too,
I do not know if that is true.

They say that the New World is so varied and vast,
in one day, you can go from snow-capped hills to
great plains
where lakes are so wide, they spill into the horizon,
but again, I do not know if that is true.

They say there is a land with a beautiful rising sun,
creeping over a most holy mountain,
with hues of reds and oranges painting the sky,
a fiery phoenix ascending from ashen ground.

Who knows if any of this is true?

They say that while you are sleeping,
in a far-off land someone is waking,
that the sun sets in the West and rises in the East,
the moon pulls the ocean and causes waves to crash.

I do not know if this is true, but what I do know is…

My father once held my dreams in his hands,
while anointing me with chrism in God’s name,
and although we don’t share the same language,
in my father’s eyes, I am loved.

At least this I know.

Things I want

I want that freedom.
I want to be free, floating, and fierce.

I want to cut through like a machete, chopping down the
bamboo that surrounds me.

I want to walk into a room and be seen.
I want to see all things that represent me.
I want to see every shade and find solace in our
multitudes.

I want to soar high above and look down on this world
and find belonging.
I want to give comfort, receive comfort, comfortably exist
in the centre of it all.
I want to not have to think, not always question.

I want that freedom.

I want to swim far and wide.
I want to be a fish and swim safely in the sea.
I want to be caught in your net.

I want you to hoist me up, savour me: your catch.
I want to be gutted, filleted, and served on a platter for
your consumption.

I want to be free and wild and angry.
I want to be soft and hard and par-boiled.
I want you to eat me.

Now.

We are young and still have time

1. Heat on skin as the sun bores down
   on wood varnished by sticky sweet cider.

Air smelling of spring, summer in the distance,
I smile at you while soaking up the promise of a day.

2. We walk side by side along the gallery wall
with its monochrome photos of distant cities.

We say how we will go there someday,
and we believe it because we are young.

3. Coorying in among the dim candlelight,
pressed up against the foggy glass alcove.

Seasons changing, the patio a distant memory,
we laugh about this as we toast the year.

4. Friday night, I wait for you on the steps,
ten minutes to go until the band starts up.

We’ve missed the preshow pint (no bother),
really, I just want your company in the dark.

5. Music blares from speakers stacked like Lego,
as strobe lights cast blue-violet filters on our skin.

The throng of revellers fall and rise against the stage,
the band they are like ministers preaching to the
masses.

6. Over the bass and drum, I whisper, I love you
   and through the snare, you mouth, I’m glad
   we’re here.

 All around us, the future feels bright and
never-ending.

We believe it because we are young and still
have time.

At Least This I Know by Andrés N. Ordorica is published by 404 Ink, priced £9.99.