Corpse Fauna, Frontera

1

Here, a stove is luxury.
An indoor toilet.
A cup of clean water.

2

Elsewhere, black heart
of the festering fruit.
White grin of flies.
Body hanging from a bridge.

3

Here, second hand shoes.
Horse’s dry prepuce.

4

Elsewhere, dinner:
fist of hair.

5

Elsewhere, head full of lice.
Blow flies forcing the mouth to open.

Author of the article

Octavio Quintanilla is the author of the poetry collection, If I Go Missing (Slough Press, 2014), and teaches Literature and Creative Writing in the M.A./M.F.A. program at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. Connect on IG @writeroctavioquintanilla. More of Octavio's work can be found here: https://www.octavioquintanilla.com/publications.html