NECTAR TO TASTE
LIN FLORES
Maybe I take canals to our hiding
texts— hold my breath to caress her hand
while others attack the barricade.
Under moonlight we exchange
morality for fruit, it suits us well
since we only ask questions, stir leaves and
figs from our underground sanctuary,
pluck whispers and grace the ground with our coats.
Undress to the warmth of meditation
hymn, strum of vocal cords, a bout ballad
between worlds, waiting —naked— for man’s prompted
apocalypse. Isn’t it just like a
man to curse the girls for taking the bite,
for wanting to see the entire world?
Lin Flores is the author of Reflections While Living in Utah (2020) and an MFA candidate in Poetry at the University of New Orleans. Lin is a two-time recipient of the Andrea Saunders Gereighty / Academy of American Poets Award (2023 & 2024). They were also named a 2024 poetry fellow with Roots. Wounds. Words. under Paul Tran. Most recently, they were awarded an emerging artist grant to attend The Chateau d'Orquevaux, an international artist and writers residency in France. Lin serves as a reader for The Offing and Bayou Magazine and their poetry has been published in Poets, Lesbians Are Miracles, Latinx Lit Mag, Moist, Pile Press, and UNO's Ellipsis. When not writing, Lin volunteers with Plumas Colectiva, a collective of Latinx poets and artists, supporting cultural expression and environmental advocacy.