Delores Gilmore

Summer solstice breeze
Cast diamonds on water
Rippling ashore
Salty air ruffles the tents

Friday morning farmers market
Eduardo’s Fresh Strawberries
Booth stood between the honey seller
And the vegetable stall

Emptiness fills the space
with a view of the ocean
like a tooth missing
from the vendor’s smile

Donde esta Eduardo?

I ask the neighbor
His eyes narrow
Dart around crowd
His voice lowers

Yo no se

His fear telegraphed
As he glances to the empty stall
His breath shallow
Hands trembled

I have been called
Fearless, fierce, formidable
Yet I quiver, helpless
Angry

Donde esta Maria?

Her wispy grey hair
That dangled in her eyes
Brushed away by sunburnt hands
As she gathered the debris of the day

Yo no se

Stories stoke the flames
Of fear
And anger
The child’s cry startles me

Fear tastes like
Acrid smoke from stale cigarettes
Wafting through the air
After the man disappeared

Fear tastes like
Cotton candy strawberries
Rotting in the fields
After the raid

Fear tastes like
Salty tears and
Empty fruit stands
At the farmers market

Donde esta Eduardo?
Yo no se

Delores Gilmore is a student of poetry writing with Vanessa Poster at The Write Way. Her poems include Today, After the Election, published in Women in a Golden State (Gunpowder Press), Life’s Secrets in the League of Women Voters Newsletter, and Sunday at the Stadium in the Omnilore Newsletter. She is President of Zonta Club South Bay, a 501©(3) charitable organization, and a retired Vice President of Human Resources in the fashion, apparel, manufacturing, and retail industries. She holds a BA in Business from California Pacific University and completed Advanced HR Studies at UCLA. Delores is a lifelong Californian and beach enthusiast.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.