For The Scar Near My Left Eye
Which Means That I Have Cousins That Love Me

which means we rug burn and remember the matches          which means my cousin
found his palms on my fall          which means we went to church in spanish and spoke
english          which means we were bad as hell          which means we exercise         
which means I’d give my breath          which means we exhale with sudden hands         
which means there was a neglected nail hanging out of a southside fence          which
means that a little boy siren wails          which means emergency          which means
that a little boy siren wails          which means there was a neglected nail hanging out of
a southside fence          which means we exhale with sudden hands          which means
I’d give my breath          which means we exercise          which means we were bad as
hell          which means we went to church in spanish and spoke english      which
means my cousin found his palms on my fall          which means we rug burn and
remember the matches          which means that I have cousins that love me 

KARL MICHAEL IGLESIAS

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Karl Michael Iglesias now resides in Brooklyn, New York. His work can be read in Apogee, The Acentos Review, The Breakwater Review, The Florida Review, RHINO Poetry, Kweli Journal, and Haymarket Books’ The Breakbeat Poets anthology. Karl’s debut chapbook, TO CATCH A GLOW, is forthcoming through Finishing Line Press in 2021.