Viral
By Alejandro Escudé

The default moment—

———————–grass greener,

———–the news: two golfers, husband and wife, score hole in one’s.

Night and night goes. Viral messaging,
–

————————————little thought to presence,

my friend friends my wife on Facebook, I don’t like it

a stone
–

———————-goes hurdling through a jungle; my first eight years as a father,

–

no biblical reference, and again no biblical reference

———————————–even the cow having trouble giving birth is good TV

–

the vet approaches her, shirt off, something I was never meant to watch,
–

———————————-and if you look up, if one looks up

at the lit up avenues of space,

–

————————————there’s Jupiter! waiting in vain for a spaceship

supplanted even more than I am.

———————————————————–For what am I, despite it all

a seat, a skeleton at the graduation

where my old students only recall with half-hearted adolescent love

———————————–their very last English teacher

–

the penultimate a passing note in class

————————————————scribbled slang

a time to go, a party with pot,

——————————————— –a beer that tastes the same as it did in 1993

when I too did the same things

–

——————————————————————only less haphazardly and with more care

or perhaps it was a different type of care

——————————————————since rising gave you sun, a light drizzle

and riots

–

—————————-a satellite is set to a future time, it is living in another world

until calibrated to slow down

–

——————————————————so that now

I can find myself on a map where no one else can find me.

 

 

Alejandro Escudé’s first book of poems, My Earthbound Eye, was published in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Find more at alejandroescude.com.

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Photo by Gessy Alvarez