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QUINCE magazine

a literary and visual arts journal
By 4:28AM
I lay awake staring
out open windows
until the sky turns pink
until the light comes back.
My mother’s voice echoes
off the ceiling
cuando tengas hijos
cuando te cases
My father’s voice growls
from under the bed
esos no son hombres
no quiero que te conviertan
A hand wraps around my ankle
its fingers tapping against my skin
a tap for every year that passes
a tap for every long-haired crush
It pulls me, says it’ll be easier
to bite back all the words
to birth an uncurved version of myself
It drags me toward the dark,
ripping me in two, knows
my greatest fear; living with half
my body
in the closet.

QUINCE magazine
Esmeralda Gamez is a graduate of Fresno State's MFA Program. Her work can be found in Fresno State publications: The San Joaquin Review, The San Joaquin Review Online, Flies, Cockroaches, Poets as well as Taco Bell Quarterly and Azahares.
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