TWO POEMS by ENZO SALAZAR
Love in the Time of a Zombie Apocalypse
on the days we'd raid the next
on our list of convenience stores,
we choose not to pray. rather make
use of unused notebook pages
to cover our limbs, like diy gifts,
and suddenly we're precious enough,
worth remembering enough, living
off of reasons to live like last week's
cereal box, or this week's liquor racks,
most times the stray cat rescues,
and other times the arbitrary bath,
before this tugging at each other
the way we’d tug at time hanging
above us, a waning short-form content
about the best ways to end it all,
or the innumerable types of wound
dressing, of lovemaking, or the making
of make-do weapons we refuse to use,
reaching from one end onto one end,
a series of simulations starting
and stopping again, until an attempt
at another wretched meal, or hold
of a hand, running into a deadening
world that breaks into endless beginnings.
Love in the Time of a Zombie Apocalypse (Reprise)
it is only now
that we're doing this.
this gagging and tethering
of bodies, almost kinky,
if not for the can of tuna
in lieu of a ball gag.
today, and maybe tomorrow,
or who knows? does time matter
in a doomed world?
all i know is i am keeping you
wound by wires and wishing
for my flesh more
than before, like a private art
of a public sensation because what else
should i do
when you have cheated death?
you, devolved into desire
growling from a lump of rot,
still kicking, and still breaking free
at the sight of me, and i,
still caught in a conundrum,
a pigheaded pretense
of not knowing what it means
now that you’re dying
to open me up again.
Enzo Salazar (any pronouns) is a 19-year-old artist based in Las Piñas City, Philippines. Besides writing poems, he enjoys creating illustrations centered on queer love and whimsical themes. His other works have appeared or are forthcoming in the HaluHalo Journal. He goes by @fleurelio on Twitter and @enzoitgoess on Instagram.