Self Portrait #1

Sometimes I go on for hours

about things I’ve wished or refused

time is without my conscience

beginning at the end of violence

the wire jutting out

of shattered concrete

shrinking at the elements

twisting free of the cement

is a word in place

of a mirror—

Or shattered glass

covered in plaster and ash where

the wire jutting out

of stained lime is a reflection.

(2024)

Strike Out,

St. Louis

Written by: Kam Reo

Edited by: Brook Wang