Distinguished Voices in Literature
Poetry Contest
judged by Benjamin Garcia, author of Thrown in the Throat
Finalist
Speaking Honestly,
I’ve got the tendency to be overly cautious.
While having conversations I find myself tip toeing around cracks
to save my descendants’ spinal cords from disappointment.
The value Piertorriueños place in the ability to express yourself
weighs heavily on my shoulders-
I constantly catch myself forgetting to sit up straight.
When I worry my words will come out jumbled,
—————–the way most of my writing does
I think about the ones who understand,
—————–my friend tells me she hates poetry but
—————–“you’re the only person that can make me ‘get it'”
they remind me to be proud of my mental
treat its placement as a pedestal.
So I try to realign my spine before I speak
and hope the change in elevation
won’t make me dizzy enough to crash and crumble
___________-mumble and stutter-
because when deciding to give up
on the battle of explanation
the eerie silence that comes
after an unfinished thought
echoes through gun chambers,
leaving me hunched over in defeat.
Bullets through thousands of back bones.
Leila Torres is a Cortland alumna with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and two minors in Professional Writing and Sociology. She enjoys learning about people through discovering the inner workings of fictional, but human, characters. Her hopes are that her work presents a blend of spooky and thought provoking themes for others to enjoy.