And here we are—                sewing 

secrets we have wanted in some form

 

to keep,                                 sewing        

them into the sky, sewing them into

 

the lining of a lake                  in the sky

as if there is no birth, no beach, no violence           

 

the cloud cannot hold            there, where

rain comes from

 

remembering to fall                again and again

saying, Hoi Polloi,

 

I am one of you.                     Susceptible to rust and moths, 

I may even be taken in the night by thieves, 

 

like so many seed spores      lost.

 

 

|||

 

 

Julia Guez is the author of In an Invisible Glass Case Which Is Also a Frame. Her poetry, prose, and translations have appeared in Poetry, Guernica, The Guardian, Kenyon Review, PEN Poetry Series and the Brooklyn Rail. Four Way Books will be releasing her next book, The Certain Body, in 2022. Guez teaches creative writing at Rutgers. She also serves as the senior managing director of program design and implementation at Teach For America New York. Guez lives in Brooklyn and online at www.juliaguez.net

Guez has previously had her work published in TLR’s Game Theory issue.

 

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