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.

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THREE POEMS by MEGAN LUBEY