"The only way I can / get his attention is by ripping out / the translucent, turquoise
piece of rubber that squeaks in his mouth / in lieu of conversation..."
"your outer barbs / the finest and most precious : / the soft palate needs to lift to make sound but sometimes we are silenced in the mud / Diopside stimulates new cycles of growth..."
"Sister / to a knife, but the moon cuts / water and ships and when she feels like it, / the sky. The knife cuts the red / from apples and unrunning lambs and once, / my father’s thumb..."
"When I’ve felt casualty creeping toward me I’ve never reached / for the gospel. Instead perhaps a fire or a dance. In this way / I know I am heretic— a dirtier flavor watching bones and papers..."
Lucia Orellana-Damacela’s publications include the poetry collection Sea of Rocks (Unsolicited Press, 2018), the chapbooks Longevity River (Plan B Press, 2019) and Life Lines (The Talbot-Heindl Experience, 2018).