About the Column:

Poems of Our Climate is a weekly poetry column run by Ava Guralnick ’25. The column was founded by Oliver Egger ’23 as a part of the literary magazine group Route 9. Submit and read past issues of The Lavender at Route9.org. If you are interested in having your poem featured in this column, please email your work directly to aguralnick@wesleyan.edu.

In Turn of Starvation

 

in exchange of hunger

you present your hard exterior

hoping to leave me salivating 

 

now left with the only kind of survival i know–that i’m kin to

i watch you, hungry

violently you

rock your head,  making sancocho* with your thoughts

your exterior returns 

softer somehow, mimicking the texture and grace of your insides

 

now what feeds me

is the rotting of your last line of defense and 

i hate its bitter phantom 

which becomes me, 

because 

it’s like they said:

 

You are what you eat

 

next stage after hunger 

is delusion 

i’m caught in purgatory 

in between

hanging on the thin thread of your quiet deceit 

 

You offer nothing in exchange 

I’m still hungry 

I’m still

              Angry

 

*sancocho: Dominican stew mixed with vegetables, meats and potatoes

About the Poet:

Darlene De La Cruz ’25 identifies as a Queer Afro-Latinx writer who has lineage in the Dominican Republic and resides in Harlem, NY. Inspired by the works of Rita Dove, Ntozake Shange, and Harryette Mullen, Darlene weaves these authors’ styles in with their own in an attempt to reveal the idiosyncrasies of living, hurting, and loving. The writer/poet uses memory, tangible objects, nature, and the human body as the muses for each of their poems.