By LUIS LOPEZ-MALDONADO
& we walk run float
on dirt trails
cactus growing up
into the blue black
& balloons balloons balloons,
the moon is shy tonight
sneakers against Rio Grande
& we don’t make a sound
we disappear
like morning fog
covering the Sandias
just before sunrise
& wild horses
in the distance,
& we walk run float
our Mexican skin shining
tanning burning
as the end of Summer
cracks open like an egg
like a thousand
gallos singing
en la madrugada,
& El Bosque
does not see us
like bad hombres
but as extraterrestrials
cultivating Native land
& birds birds birds
continue migrating south
LUIS LOPEZ-MALDONADO is a Xicanx poeta, choreographer and educator, born and raised in Southern California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Riverside, majoring in Creative Writing and Dance. His poetry has been seen in The American Poetry Review, Cloudbank, The Packinghouse Review, Public Pool, and Spillway, among many others. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance from Florida State University and also a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a poetry editorial assistant for the Notre Dame Review, and founder of the men’s writing workshop in the St. Joseph County Juvenile Justice Center; He is currently co-founder and editor at The Brillantina Project. www.luislopez-maldonado.com
Art by Issue 9 featured artist, Emily Truman
Emily has displayed work at various galleries, including “Nasty Women” in Philadelphia and “Vulvacular” in Chelsea, NYC. In addition to being in the process of becoming a teaching artist with South Central PaARTners through Millersville University, Emily holds a free monthly bring-your-own-everything collage workshop at Lancaster Art Studios, and teaches monthly workshops at The Candy Factory. Follow her on instagram at @collage__dropout.