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Volume 11 • Number 1 • Spring-Summer 2019

Jennifer Hernandez

Anniversary XX

Twenty years since
the trail forked, our hands
clasped in a death-grip.

We started down this path
high torque, bright eyes.
And now, fingers numb,
hearts throttled, we stumble

toward the silhouette
that flashes ahead in the trees,
glimpses of light-in-darkness,
darkness-in-light, a glyph

snared by nimble spines,
rigid backbones be damned.

Quell the naysayers.

I will yet sculpt the self
I want them to find.

(previously published in Wicked Banshee)

Jennifer Hernandez lives in the northwest suburbs where she teaches immigrant youth and writes poetry, flash, and creative non-fiction. She’s a member of the League of Minnesota Poets and loves to perform her writing. Favorite publications include Radical Teacher, Sleet Magazine, Talking Stick, and A Prince Tribute (Yellow Chair Press).