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.