I.
wakes plays cards writes long letters reads little drinks much vomits kisses puts out falls passes out wakes trims nails avoids meat digs graves plants feet plants trees sells goes bankrupt goes running goes wilder learns to drive throws down takes a beating reforms
opens a café in Jerusalem
II.
the whole world knows but I have forgotten
I cannot say
I have not slept at all
yes I will show you my hands
III.
bright child set afire
the rain a goldshower
death in its
glory form
oh the body
burns to the ground once
and then again
for good measure
it is finished before it begins
Elisa Gonzalez is a queer Puerto Rican writer raised in Ohio. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Barrow Street, Lambda Literary Poetry Spotlight, Mississippi Review, Prelude, and elsewhere. A graduate of Yale University and the New York University M.F.A. program, she has received support from the Norman Mailer Foundation and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She is a 2016-2017 Fulbright Scholar in the arts and lives in Warsaw, Poland.