is a
risk

everything
is wrong

song
I im-

agine
a place

where
inside

is out
and out

in
where 

the gold
pin-

eapple
pop-

sicles
flake

in the
wind

we
meet

again
instead

I’m thrown
back

on my-
self

as here
and you

there
and how

does
here

appear
to there

or there
to here

honestly?
a mess

follows me
like a body

I can’t
bury

thus
I mourn

continually
some-

times
I don’t

know
if I

can tell
the difference

between
restraint

and dis-
cipline

obedience
and negligence

letting be
and letting go

shit
happens

I may
be

a site
of torn

wants
but I

want
what

God
wants

what
do you

want?
what

do you
see?

do
you

see
me?

who
can

see
when

here and
there

are so
clear?

I want
you to

know
I don’t

want
this

—

Robert Fernandez was raised in Hollywood, Florida and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. Poems are forthcoming in Oversound, The Believer, and Image.

—

Cover photo by Dimitri Iakymuk