curve, i want it out of me
horizon of pink machines
shadow, other people’s grief
i choke up flags and furniture
stretch them out in the sun
cat nap of the not mine
the word empathy is a boot
on the lowback of an ancestor
my spine curved, facedown
the dirt, a window
to before my mothering
wilder eyes flower
in the reflection of a spoon
rows of their socks pinned
to the empire
older than woven
these fingernails are beds
for what once were their mouths
biting down to hold against the wind
wildness, the dead skin giving, lives
nicole v basta’s recent poems have found homes in Ploughshares, Plume, RHINO, Muzzle, North American Review, The Cortland Review, Best New Poets 2023, etc. Her second chapbook the next field over (2022), was published by Tolsun Books. nicole is also a visual artist, community educator, and arts events producer with proud roots in the Pennsylvania coal mines & garment factories. Her work has been supported by grants and residencies from places like Art Farm Nebraska, The Saltonstall Foundation, NYSCA, etc. Find nicole on Instagram @nicoalvbasta.
