ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Luis Lopez-Maldonado is a queer Xicanx activist, artist & educator born & raised in multiple barrios across el Orange County, CA. He/Him/They/Them are winners of the 2024 International Latino Book Award for his first book, Mexican Bird, from Querencia Press; his second book is Gay Poetics of the Passion (FlowerSong Press). His/Their poesía has been published in over 150 different journals and magazines and anthologies. He/They are currently adding glitter to the Land of Enchantment, working for the public educational system as a high school Bilingual & Special Education educator. He/They currently hold two B.A.'s from UCR, an M.A. from FSU, an M.F.A. from ND and an Ed.S. from UNM. He is working on his next collection of poems.
Previously in Glass: A Journal of Poetry:
#PrayForOrlando
Sour Taste In My Mouth
May 28, 2025
Everything You’re Hungry For, I’ve Already Eaten
People are talking about me,
Sometimes stars come out
From under my skin, like blisters
Like granitos like anxiety,
Yet outside nothing moves
The sun the flowers the birds
The sound of the ocean,
Bees are drowning:
And what happens to them
Happens to me,
Fire undresses my bones
And I die like sunflowers
Like gladiolas like Selena y Jenni,
Cracked windshields glittering under Albuquerque sun:
You see, everything you are hungry for
I have already eaten,
And I crush a spider with my index finger and thumb
As I water my plants,
Love spreads at my waist, hips, wrists, and lips.
This poem came to me while outside watering my plants. I am always looking for connections with nature, and how a human tends to it, but abuses it at the same time. There are multiple metaphors throughout the short poem that create an amalgamation of emotions and truths. It was important for me to make nature and I equally powerful and weak, while juggling life and death (Mexican, American, and New Mexican identity, somewhere in between). When I read this poem, my plan is to be eating a burrito, with sunglasses on, and my pre-recorded poem, in the background!
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published weekly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
