Elastic Cold-Cuts
︎︎︎ Elida Silvey
︎ MAR 7, 2022
Elastic cold-cuts, slabs
shoved off the sides of Levi jeans
miniature rolls of fat, remind me
of the imperfect pretense of being.
Pen tumbling between knuckles
like trapeze artist exercising the art of balance,
noting with each stumble
a faintly skipped heartbeat
to the tune of languid
drifters
crossing lethargic across eyeballs
like JanSport backpack students on their way to
moss-hued classrooms. Charcoal black
with navy, maroon
bouncing on the back.
The edge of copper-rind,
button belted too tight, pressed up
embossed an indent onto skin
a circular imprint
like sun dogs mocking the horizon,
serves as notice board for anxieties.
{It’s a community};
it tells me between sips of caffeine
as if to convince me
of normality.
I imagine most people feel this way.
shoved off the sides of Levi jeans
miniature rolls of fat, remind me
of the imperfect pretense of being.
Pen tumbling between knuckles
like trapeze artist exercising the art of balance,
noting with each stumble
a faintly skipped heartbeat
to the tune of languid
drifters
crossing lethargic across eyeballs
like JanSport backpack students on their way to
moss-hued classrooms. Charcoal black
with navy, maroon
bouncing on the back.
The edge of copper-rind,
button belted too tight, pressed up
embossed an indent onto skin
a circular imprint
like sun dogs mocking the horizon,
serves as notice board for anxieties.
{It’s a community};
it tells me between sips of caffeine
as if to convince me
of normality.
I imagine most people feel this way.
Elida Silvey is a Mexican-American writer whose work focuses on exploring the edges of emotion, the importance of mundanity in representing love, and the splitting nature of living multiculturally. She self-published a book of poems and photography of her family home in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and has been published in The Horizon Magazine, Soft Qtrly, Sunstroke, and other local publications. You can find more of her work on her Instagram @elida.silvey or via her website refractionsinwater.com.