TWO POEMS | DELILAH MARTINEZ
J35
Tahlequah is a city in Oklahoma. The average 3 star hotel is about $78 a night.
This word means “just two”.
This has nothing to do with me.
Tahlequah is an ocra who carried her dead calf on her rostrum for 1000 miles or 17 days.
You pick which sounds more devastating.
Members in her pod took turns keeping the decomposing calf above water.
Ice cube bopping at the top of a whiskey glass.
The calf was a girl, un-named and un-numbered.
This has nothing to do with me.
Researches say/Pod dying/Chinook Salmon/Endangered species/The Governor of Washington/Laws/ Breaking damns.
You know this story.
A poet will say that grief is the thing with feathers or fins, but I will tell my imaginary children that grief is a blood vessel inside Tahlequah’s left pupil that will live at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean like a lost pearl that a sailor will spend his whole life trying to find.
I have broken the pattern.
This grief is now yours to hold for 1000 miles or 17 days.
When you/tell this story/
you will say something new.
Vein
My body is taunt. Its taken. Not mine
Its never been mine to baby and coo.
I often imagine a small column in between
my lungs that hurts when I slouch or
speak too quickly. It is here. Lounging
inside of me like a hidden pocket. An
Aztec ancestor placed it there, I hope.
It says, “flourish when the remembering stops.”
Delilah Martinez is currently working on her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Portland State University. When not working or writing, she can be found rolling down hills or reading to her dog salchicha.
Cover art by Sherita Trent. “The Dairy Queen.” 8x8. Mixed media.
Sherita Trent is a mixed media artist residing in Portland, Oregon. Her process is intuitive, detail oriented, and playful—producing works of art that exude her deep appreciation for the magic within the everyday moment. As a Black artist, she is particularly interested in reverbing the message that Black Joy is Resistance! You can see more of Sherita's work on Instagram: @ofquirkywonder and Facebook: www.facebook.com/ofquirkywonder. Keep an eye out for her Etsy shop coming soon!: www.etsy.com/shop/OfQuirkyWonder
