On the mountain overlooking your family’s house
in Santiago, I sat watching you undress yourself
of the oranges in season, take them for anything
but remembrance, then begin to feed yourself.
What tree told you to swallow nature
whole and leave nothing behind. Why not ask
the fruit, have you always grown here?
In London, there is nothing in season. Only the
rain grows, so I pick the leaves from the
orange in my chest, asking how rotten
is distance?
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Noel Quiñones is an AfroBoricua writer born and raised in the Bronx. A recent graduate of Swarthmore College majoring in English Literature, he was a recipient of their 2015 John Russell Hayes Poetry Prize. As well he was a member and assistant coach of the 2015 Philadelphia Pigeon National Poetry Slam team, placing among the top twenty teams in the country. As a teaching artist, slam coach, and youth mentor for both P.Y.P.M. and ArtWell in Philadelphia he has worked with artists of all ages. He has recently moved back to New York City where he is working on a chapbook entitled, “An EgoRikan’s Memory.” His work has appeared in The Acentos Review, FreezeRay, and Decades Review.
Maps For Teeth 