Isabel del Rio

Biography

Isabel del Rio is a British-Spanish poet, writer, linguist and journalist. Born in Madrid, she has lived in London most of her life. She has published fiction and poetry in both English and Spanish. Her fiction genres are fantasy, sci-fi, noir, dystopia. Her recent autobiography is 'A Woman Alone: fragments of a memoir'. She has published the stories and novellas of ‘Paradise & Hell’, and the novels 'Dissent', the first part of the trilogy 'Planet in Peril', and 'El tiempo que falta'. Other poetry collections include ‘Cuaderno de notas', 'Dolorem Ipsum', ‘Ataraxy’, ‘Madrid’, Madrid, Madrid’ and ‘Punto de fuga’. She regularly takes part in performance poetry, spoken word and literary events.

TRIPTYCHS (from the book 'Dolorem Ipsum')

TRIPTYCHS CONFLICT I do not expect to win this war but shall feel blessed with lesser victories: teatime, the greenest grass, growing old very slowly THE ORIGINS OF PHILOSOPHY philosophy will one day want to be history yet history is capable of existing on its own without asking questions THE NATURE OF ALL THINGS alongside a single bird of paradise, whether fowl or flower: a rosebush shedding its petals without outside help, a cactus keeping enemies at bay BELIEFS ARE MOSTLY FICTION I must now take a pick between these conditions: the scent of roses dying, or the drip of water from the broken tap, or walking without anyone by my side SIGNS OF DANGER remnants of red flags waving among clouds white horses galloping lengthways on the sea yellow hazard emblems along unused roads PAIN some of us are dead but only on the inside; some only ever experienced pain at the last minute; but others, under the pain of death, clearly find the exit DRIVING BY you drive by, watch things from your car window, fleetingly leave it all behind; no stopping, no reverse gear, no directions, no interest DEATH AND THE DEAD none of us long to die, even those who do it by their own hand; if only you had known that death was not an answer but a paltry destiny © isabeldelrio 2021

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.