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mj santiago

the space before war

             after Rufino Tamayo's Animals

glass over oil, I see

my face

in your red fur

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our color stains

yellow walls,

stone moves like bodies

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behind us. I train

my eyes to foresee

what we cannot use:

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the price of milk

in Florida, names

of people who haven’t

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been invented yet.

our skin known

for missing girls,

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for mobile homes.

you don’t need to dig

for bones at your feet.

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I learn to farm

corn in the field like

blood, like fur

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teeth bared, calling

out a reason

to be afraid.

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Originally from central Florida, MJ Santiago currently lives and works in New York. Their work has appeared in Reservoir Lit, Heavy Feather Review, and No, Dear Magazine.

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