three poems by Virginia Valenzuela

Parking Lot

meet me in the back of the Walgreens

where the lines are crooked

and there are faces in the gravel

and life progresses inchmeal

like stones caught in a brook

meet me in the palm of my hand

as I wade through dumpster trash

searching for a piece of meat

open your mouth

be my god

alas, the storm

is come again

as the rain anoints my bruised windows

I am filled with communion

pressed bread muddy wine

the taste of lie on my tongue

father kept telling me

the world is your napkin

as if the truth were something you could use

and then throw away

my rebellion is my refusal to forget

here comes a spirit

dripping in the divine and bad

first impressions

my stomach is constant

like me, it is working overtime

sifting through black rectangles

that confirm evil walks this earth

what have we here? a man or a fish?

the soft white glow of your bottom teeth

is a comfort in times like these

Soul / Mate

You always try to escape   and I always let you

a one song bar         one toe in the portal

my eyes, now opal, compete only with my teeth     salt sits

on the rim of my mouth   a formaldehyde gone wrong

I never asked for this       but I got it anyway

so long ago now that I’ve forgotten what I       originally wanted

your blue glow     caught on camera

deadly nightshades wilting in broad

when you are gone       I count to ten

Is Death too focused on his day job to find time for love?

5 ‘o’ clock and a cloak of darkness clouds the endless sky

angels fuck in their bathrobes, their dreams skating

into the corners of night, stealing starlight as they twist and sway

it’s been a long day, and the minutes won’t stop seething

because there are so many definitions of love

but what Death is looking for can’t be found on the interstate highway

is it bad to fall in love with someone who can’t remember

how to dream? I always said it was a red flag for me

but then again, I find myself blanking

Where does Death look for love? Everyone in the cemetery is already taken

and Emily has more admirers than she knows what to do with

I can see the two of them smoking a joint, getting dressed, flirting with

Eternity: that’s a ménage à trios I could get lost in, if only they’d invite me