Jul 17
Indian Boarding School: The Runaways by Louise Erdrich Home’s the place we head for in our sleep.Boxcars stumbling north in dreamsdon’t wait for us. We catch them on the run.The rails, old lacerations that we love,shoot parallel across the face and breakjust under Turtle Mountains. Riding scarsyou can’t get lost. Home is the place they …
Jul 16
Ay, Ay, Ay of the Black Grifa by Julia de Burgos Ay, ay, ay, that am kinky-haired and pure blackkinks in my hair, Kafir in my lips;and my flat nose Mozambiques. Black of pure tint, I cry and laughthe vibration of being a black statue;a chunk of night, in which my whiteteeth are lightning;and to …
Jul 15
In Colorado My Father Stacked and Scoured Dishes by Eduardo C. Corral in a Tex-Mex restaurant. His co-workers,unable to utter his name, renamed him Jalapeño. If I ask for a goldfish, he spits a glob of phlegminto a jar of water. The silver letters on his black belt spell Sangrón. Once, borracho,at dinner, he said: …
Jul 14
Freedom in Ohio by Jennifer Chang I want a futuremaking hammocksout of figs and accidents.Or a future quieterthan snow. The leopardsstake out the backyardand will flee at noon.My terror is not secret,but necessary,as the wild must be,as sandhill cranes mustthread the meadowyet again. Thus, autumncautions the coldand the wild never wantto be wild. So whatto …
Jul 13
Excuse Me My Trespasses by Chiyuma Elliot Jimsoned, my words are; clovered, clustered.Excuse my hair, my platform eyes.I’m crowded by theoremsand connected investigations;they clutter the chairs, they jimmy all the locks.They return my kisses with such sobrietythat blue and slow are crowns, synonyms.I might have waited elsewhere.But looking is its own gym, its own pay-off,and …
