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"Shore of Fancies" by Alexey Adonin

Two poems by ​David M. de León

Precarity
We thought the toilet paper would run out but it did not run out.

We thought the toilet paper would run out but there was toilet paper.

Some people buy things in bulk because they have to buy things

in bulk. The bodega selling single rolls. Our stockpile running low. We’re

fighting. The toilet paper was something. Like when I ate peanut butter and jelly

for weeks. Like my mother saying you hungry again? Like my mother

getting Burger King again. Some people don’t buy things in bulk because

they can’t buy things in bulk. When you know toilet paper then

everything is toilet paper. When you know toilet paper then everything is

fighting. Some people have toilet paper. Some people always have

toilet paper. We thought the toilet paper would run out. We thought we

would run out but we did not run out. The toilet paper means

I love you. The toilet paper means I will die someday.

We thought the toilet paper would run out

​but it did not run out.
The Cats of Old San Juan
a failing forward against knowing               uncertainty no word could

enclose                                                          or to take too much or for granted

                 *

from the train you see the backs of buildings

she asks what if we never have kids               well, what if?

backyards                 corrugated steel                weeds

                 *

some say love is universal          what a lie

love is the least         most singular

*

​smallest ever thing

David M. de León is a Puerto Rican writer, academic, editor, and theater artist, a first-generation student and PhD candidate. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in places like [Pank], Pleiades, At Length, Fence, The Acentos Review, 2River View, Bat City Review, Anderbo, and Diagram. He has received aid from Tin House and the Fine Arts Work Center, and is currently an Assistant Editor at The Yale Review. He lives in Jersey City. http://davidmdeleon.com

Alexey Adonin is a Jerusalem based abstract-surrealist artist. His works have been showcased locally and internationally and are held in private collections around the world. Alexey uses a unique and beautiful technique in which he layers oil paints solely on top of one another to create a mystical, transparent look. His philosophy stems from the idea that one's reality is made up of what they believe it to be. Alexey uses his art as a platform to express his profound ideas about reality, humanity, and their intertwined behaviors. You can view more at www.alexeyadoninart.com.
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