Julián David Bañuelos

 

Take this shot of tequila & let’s play
in the dark where we can hide our faces
& our hides— You already knew that huh?
This is a curse casted without a spell.
My name backwards in your mouth is noon
& level, nice & comfortable, rolls off
the tongue & down your throat & up again.
If life is made of moments, then why do mine

last a lifetime? Be what you ought to be,
even if the only thing you know is
that you know nothing, said the brightest mouth
in the darkest room. I tore my eyes out
gave them to you & saw all the dead things
shining in the dark— She could break my heart.

 

Julián David Bañuelos is Mexican American poet from Lubbock, Tx. He was awarded the 2020 Iris N. Spencer Poetry award from the West Chester Poetry Conference. He received his BA from Texas Tech University and is currently a first year MFA candidate in poetry at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.