TWO POEMS by ARI VILLEDA-MARTINEZ
CHOMPER’S DREAM
fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,
i’ve a cut on the smug left corner of my mouth,
likely on the shrapnel of a big chip.
i open wide & it hurts
i eat a bagel & it hurts
i take on too much & it hurts
i talk good too much & it hurts
i act tough or play smart & it hurts
it’s slow going to close the damn thing
a dark life’s time’s is happening & healing hurts
i’m told talking helps just about everything else
this feels tailored. feels like someone’s good news.
can the head keep level. can your heart lay low?
can you talk softly, slowly, sparing for like a week?
you will not be a lonesome, addied lady of the woods.
your aching mouth grows tough as the hide of a wolf.
sit there eerie. gentle lanksome septa spirit
slender fingers up to shoulder, snaking in to
stop the doors. thankless-stoic hero of the city.
hey girl nonono, you can’t eat a hoagie right now-
god, please don’t smoke, you’ll lose your smoocher
maybe you're not cursed. maybe it’s not magic.
maybe you deserve what’s happening to you
for egging on the little devil in yourself.
BLESSING OF THE SPIDER
i’ll be the first to say
after sitting here a minute
that i like your little music,
but i don’t know if it helps.
yeah. so,, here’s the thing:
i call to say i fear i’d make
a beautiful ghost.
the house is flooding &
today the water is wet
i can feel it gently &
i can touch the ceiling
i can finger heaven
i can reach most things
shorthand, we can call this
the blessing of the spider
i am all a monster 5ft 10
plum ugly - long legged
you could pawn my heart
for silver.
someone told me
that if you do not love yourself
all love you dole out
is conditional
i hold gristly little me like
a garter snake’s dentist
wet my tongue & teeth
i can be, the anti-me
we can be together.
i can be an angel too
i can touch the wing
carve it out of soap
do the laundry
listen and listen close
i will live today, tomorrow
the next month & then forever
but after that all bets are off.
A Latinx poet, educator, and general transgender menace, Ari Villeda-Martinez (she/they) is a performer and artist who thrives in the seemingly liminal space between the seat and the stage. She is a maker most interested in how an audience creates their own tether to a spoken narrative and can breach the wall to the page. Her work is intimate, precise, and at its best, devours.