Unchecked by the front desk 
I point to the man atop all that boisterous.
A wine-colored Sportster bubbling through 
the window. I know how close you can get 
to an explosion. I need an explanation 
for how I fit into the helmet. I have a screaming eagle 
who looks like me, I squeeze him over thunder-glide. Vibrations 
rock me away. We take off and I can barely hold on. 
I know you see me, Mina! You better double that dutch. 
Berto saw me too. He punched me earlier that day 
in the back so hard my lung popped. I am still catching 
my breath. He carries me with him always, the most 
alive he has ever been. 
So I want him to see me too. Ascending 
on this floating island. A skipping rock 
across block. Does anybody else see us possessed?  
For the first time? Admire the burning 
steel. Is that love behind the noise? When will I get 
my scent of leather? I will always remember this 
as the closest we’ve ever been to dying together.
Let it out. Big pops caught 
in the exhaust. An explosion passed on. 
We are a war reenactment, an independence 
parade coming down Historic Mitchell Street. 
We are what is left. The gust of confetti. How many 
possibilities have we exhausted? How old 
until I am exhausted? No doubt, vibrations 
rolling through me as a hundred sneakers released 
to asphalt recess. Free / shook. A bandanna is a flag over here.
Rolling in black paisley. Eastbound. Passing 9th Street, the corner
of my eye spots Sam’s Liquor Store. 
Hopeful, I shut my eyes so tight 
I can see the six pack of Genuine Draft 
putting all his love into clutching the scalp
of the grape Blow Pop.
Hear him say this is my boy.

Published August 15th, 2021

Originally from Milwaukee, WI, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Karl Michael Iglesias' work can be read on Apogee, The Acentos Review, The Breakwater Review, The Florida Review, RHINO Poetry, Kweli Journal, The Breakbeat Poets Vol 4. LatiNext, The Westchester Review, Third Coast and The Brooklyn Review. His debut collection of poetry, CATCH A GLOW, is available now on Finishing Line Press.

Su Yu-Xin is an artist from Taiwan. Su received an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL in London, and she divides her time between Shanghai and Taipei. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Dubai, and London. Su has recently shown work at the Taikang Space in Beijing, KuanDu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery in Dubai, and MadeIn Gallery in Shanghai, among many others. More of Su’s work can be viewed online through her website and MadeIn Gallery.