Piper Perabo Instagram – I met @martinespadapoet once and I will never forget how amazing he is. Was so excited when I saw his poem as @poetsorg choice for today for #nationalpoetrymonth You can hear him read the poem aloud here. https://dcs.megaphone.fm/POETS3576160487.mp3?key=00a49105700b361e585dfa9d0a542165&request_event_id=8d4ef7b8-428d-4e9f-b1e6-c15e5ad51ac0 You can sign up for a poem a day at https://poets.org/poem-a-day The text of this beautiful poem is Breve Pausa Martín Espada —for Juan Antonio Corretjer and Consuelo Lee Tapia In the photograph, the poet leans over to kiss his wife. He wears a black suit and a black tie, as if there will be a ceremony and a medallion hung around his neck. His hair is white and crowns the back of his head. Her hair is white in waves. She lifts her face to kiss him through his white mustache. This is a despedida. They are kissing goodbye. The charge is conspiracy again. The officers born years after his first incarceration lead him away to Castillo de Ponce. The officers lead her away to the women’s prison at Vega Alta. The evidence is in the poetry. As the convoy of the empire’s army rumbles in the dark, past the mountain town where one day they will be buried side by side, the poet says to his beloved: Esta es pausa / para el amor. Es sólo / breve pausa. The poet watches her sleep. This is a pause / for love. It’s only / a brief pause.