BIO
pronouns: he/him/they
Mateo Lara is a queer latinx originally from Bakersfield, California. He received his B.A. in English at CSU Bakersfield. He is currently working on his M.F.A. in Poetry at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. His poems have been featured in Orpheus, EOAGH, Empty Mirror, and The New Engagement. He is an editor for RabidOak online literary journal & Zoetic Press.
Twitter: @killeremm
Tremor
stoke flame stoke shame out of a smoke-filled room
listen a no-nothing is pulsing underneath division
there is you ________________________________ there is us
they separated enough
linger and promise these empty fields will emerge with bloom.
come along ramshackle house is filled with wasps is divided
with wings and webs.
that fracture in your ribs another bone for sacrifice tell me these lies
will make sense in the future
future
reference boy
boy
is not boy
is jewel is juniper berry is crushed into wet.
not white not yet not ripe
tension is flame between a devastation such as Papa dying
such as field-work and triumph such as calloused hands
rotting rotten such as this grief-gut gouging
comfort into split particles of anger & ether.
there is you__________________________________ there is us
right between fissure
a crack in the surface made way for a broken promise
a relapse a tremor in an aching throat.
MAUSOLEUM
“While Grindr is not being challenged or in danger of being challenged by governmental regulatory bodies, I offer these two examples to show that the drive for profit of tech companies often seen as a shining example of ingenuity and profitability in the contemporary American economy can be questioned and challenged.” Bryce J. Renninger (2018)
Time of Death: a balm in your hand—show me the money. glistening. they want our money
I [ ] YOU petrified rotting hey wait
Not Us [ ] Not We
[ ] someone said bodies as in governed bodies as in desired
These moments were real right right? They were. I am loved.
They want us dead. Or they want us spending. Not time with each other, but with static.
Not You [ ] Not I
You have one new notification tap tap tap tap tap tap
Fire devil hi uncut? How hung? What are you into what do you need?
12 AM We [ ] We
We
[ ] please find me here I’ve not gone long without
They [ ] Them
& bodies & bodies & bodies & bodies – I am trying to fill in gaps gazing out of my attempt
& fuck & love & sex & body—he he lunges forward in despair his diamonds my god
& death & bodies & debt & department my god his diamonds are everywhere.
[ ] free plus xtra indeed find
sparkling men want you [ ]
[ ] shivering at night running out
how about now a sound worth repeating come through my window lay me down in your beeping
US [ ] WE US WE
Not me not me not me not me he does not love … … … you
Spoke to the times, the only time someone let crackling mean mending through flame was a statue, my glittering nails dictated me now as jewel as … as … as …