Ella Flores

THE DIVERGENT BOUNDARY RIPS ITS SUTURES

PUBLISHED IN FOLIO 2026: VOL. 41.

follow the stretch mark & stitch / find the catheter poised
at the foot of my back / beneath the doldrums whalefalls
grocery bags / where the sun only feeds
through the dead / where I whittle away / every valley
cavern gorge / so you might live / so you might pry & pan
for the precious metals / my water columns raised / all I bloodlet
you chipped into dagger & jewel / so you might claim
so you might steal / & shed your insides
for my out / clung to this body you are only bound to
forget / every strike I already bore / of your flint of your heel
of your bone-carved points / I will take your blame / your curses
your drowned gods & slaves / your sets of twins & treasure
ships / you sleep on the tips of my tongues / for quiet you were
& quietly you must / return to the spaces
between worlds / come closer / come suffer / my warmth /

𐫱𐫱𐫱

Ella Flores is a poetry PhD student at SUNY Binghamton whose recent work appears or is forthcoming in Gulf Stream, River Styx, F(r)iction, DIAGRAM, and others.