3 Golden Shovels
They Don’t Love You Like I Love You
after Natalie Diaz
I don’t believe in maps—
human illustrations, errors, are
masterpieces masked destinations mapped ghosts:
sometimes shadows, sometimes white,
what’s then and
what’s now are layered
like dust crusting ciudades y barrios with
wishful thinking, patinaing people
with woulda, coulda, shoulda, and
using graves synonymous with places.
Moss covered stones ahead, I
can’t chart what I can’t see,
can’t chart through.
That Which Cannot be Stilled
after Natalie Diaz
White pill bit between white teeth, I
sun salutation the bottle. The bridge was
out all day, left to make my own connections. A-
nother pill slithers down, the doctor
tap tapping the clipboard, take twice with
food or a glass of milk or a
brighter perspective. Shit diagnosis.
That stupid white pill the cure except
there is no cure. In savasana, I
can’t put myself on a beach. Can’t concoct what was
never there. The
lack of chemical, the condition.
Wolf OR-7
after Natalie Diaz
If I’m prescribed the right juice, I
might just confuse
my self-doubt for instinct,
my I’m-too-broken-to-love for
let-me-call-my-anxiety-desire—
Let me call it isn’t-
that-thought-a-bite?
And that thought also?
Mind a mess, scuffed to the touch.
Raised in the Pacific Northwest, S. Salazar has always felt at home in the mountains. As an English teacher, she strove to show students that success isn’t defined by background. S. is a mixed Puerto Rican author who's been published in Harpur Palate, The Acentos Review, Booth Journal, Poet Lore, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing from Western Connecticut State University, where even as a postgraduate, she’s juggling multiple poetry manuscripts that explore generational trauma, identity, Latinx heritage, diaspora, and mental health. Her debut poetry collection Raíces, Relics, and Other Ghosts (Kelsay Books, 2023) received 3 honorable mentions for the International Latino Book Awards. Her book examines topics of disconnection and reconnection to her Puerto Rican roots through trial and error, genealogical exploration, and the search for long-separated familia. When she isn’t writing, she can be found hiking with loved ones, talking to her parrot, Gizmo, and gushing over every dog she sees.
Currently Reading:
“I just finished Little Mercy by Robin Walter, and I've just started With My Back to the World by Victoria Chang.”
For More About the Author :
Website: www.writessalazar.com
Blog: http://writessalazar.substack.com
Instagram/Threads/Facebook/Bluesky/TikTok: @writessalazar