Clenched like a seed
in the crevice of dry rock
and then, first mist
like baptism
a soft drenching
water orb on wax
as night falls.
The drop stays
dissolves the shell
a hand unfisting
a call to minerals
seeping through
hard earth.
The mind cracks
at its core
unfurls like a flame
like hope
in the desert
of shame.
Poem by Emily Fernandez
Emily Fernandez is a professor at Pasadena City College where she teaches composition, creative writing, and poetry. She received her MA in English and American Literature from New York University. Her poems have been published in Pangyrus, The Dewdrop, Angel City Review, and several others. Her chapbook, Procession of Martyrs, was published in 2018. She was selected to be a 2020 Moving Arts MADlab playwright, and her play Cage and Lung was professionally performed online in October 2020. She lives in El Sereno. https://emily-fernandez.weebly.com