this morning I woke up spiny and sharp-tongued
turned my eyes towards the sun
some things are born this way long slice
down the midsection
where I am cut, the living gel pours out
glutinous
after the night has gone, persistence
of dreams
think of a mirror memory of a mirror
slippery as mercury, a crystal
splitting the day into shards
like you, Vera, I am a woman your desert
is my silence
Elizabeth Lara’s poems have appeared in numerous publications, both print and online, including Edna; Confluencia in the Valley; Truck; The Mom Egg Review; The Wide Shore; Antología Poética – VI Semana Internacional de la Poesía; and Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse. In 2011 she was awarded a residency at the Millay Colony. She has read her work at events in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, and in New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. She co-edited Happiness: The Delight-Tree – An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry.
