Two Poems by Claudia Hernandez

At the Zoo

After Bolaño’s “La Francesa” & “Lupe”

I  woke  up  with a quiet mind  today. Drank a cup of coffee. Got
dressed and rode my bike  headed south,  to  the  riverbed.  Final

destination:   a  wooden   bench   facing  a  boat   crammed   with
tourists. Whale watching:  Adults $45  Children $30 Seniors $40.

They board the boat while I sit  on  the  bench  reading  Bolaño’s
poem: “Lupe”—a young,  pale whore, with spotted, leopard legs,

wraps herself on his waist—he doesn’t cum. I look up and watch
as the boat  takes  off  with  the  tourists—for free.  Another boat

anchors  itself  to my  right. The others  return, hiding their faces
from  the  sun. Like  a tribe of goats,  they  walk out of  the  boat;

rioting their feet on the metallic bridge. I proceed    to read,   “La
Francesa” who  happens to  be terrified of the Thirty Year’s War.

And here I am,  battling the never-ending-war,  watching tourists
come and go—                        I am only thirty-five minutes into it.

june 24, 2021

~a mi hija who
transitioned in 2021

your face—a petal
sits there, healing.

soon it will rise
like a fisted rose;

ready for war.

welcome to the world,
daughter,

your seed was never
meant to be buried.

~~~

Claudia D. Hernández was born in Guatemala. She is the author of Knitting the Fog, recipient of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize. She is also an award-winning editor for her anthology photography book, Women, Mujeres, Ixoq: Revolutionary Visions, which received the International Latino Book Award in 2019. Hernandez holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. www.claudiadhernandez.com