Shared Juries

Abstract

Shared Juriesafter Andrés Montoya’s “Generation—7” from a jury of trees Felicia Zamora (bio) I too, heart twisted down the throatfull of tongue & jaws unable to fullycraft a language borne in my cells. HereI stutter at the song in your throatthat you do not sing. I too dreamed of walls & words though my wanderinghistory juxtaposed white on white& my altars lie in dirt, in the branchesof mulberry trees staining my barelimbs plum & sangria & wine—all the colors of sacrament, all the visionsof a child in creation of self. You too,dearest Andrés, understood where the lionlay in wait: in the valleys, in the fields, inthe cage of bone we call ribs, in the cage of bone we call skull, in the cage ofstreets we call society, in my ownthoughts as I doubt worthinessof my limbs in trees, my stingingresponse to thorns & words, Pocho [End Page 104] spoken to me as if I am a punchline& the trees that never loved me, loom& cackle their veined touch. This worldmakes a nest, crooked & torn in tendrilsof where my thoughts live. Here I stutter at your penance. I stutter at your altar of deadthings: words: where you lockedthe blood & blossoming & streets& science. I linger here, with you,stumbling of worlds. I stutter wide-eyed & open-palmed of whatyou reveal my scars to me; you revealthat the leaves in fall, regret & givetheir frail bodies back to the dead; youreveal that buds burst anew—resurrection in each wild-ful & willful stutter; you revealrecitations of faith in the dumpsters, inconscience, in city hall, in a language mine, ina language not mine, in language ours, in allthat is true, was true, sees true & in our mouths, exalt, all we children of thorn, children of stutter. [End Page 105] Felicia Zamora University of Cincinnati Felicia Zamora Felicia Zamora is the author of six poetry collections, including I Always Carry My Bones (Iowa Poetry Prize). Her poems appear in Boston Review, Guernica, Orion, The Nation, and other publications. She is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for Colorado Review. Copyright © 2022 The Trustees of Indiana University