Rose Hunter reading ‘High Roller’

since the only direction to take is more
i cast my questioning aside.            lift me 
in a bubble turn me on a rolling ribbon        
spin me on a tambourine            of visions
             a bicycle wheel with bobbles
             a diadem with thought balloons

wanting sockets, looking for air pock(ettes)
            flashing fuchsia & 
magenta ice cream cones sideward 
glances or            a reckoning, ¿he estado 

soñando todo este tiempo?             a ride
            a rite            a great white 
tumbleweed spinning in which to have big 
& little thoughts, to wonder about that man 
that woman, you.            a place to inhabit 
yourself as podling, hatchling, fledgling
as someone to frame.            a way 
              of levitating, a way of lingering            
an unprocessed            regret, a place to be 

             fugitive without even knowing
             si pudiera aceptar una invitación

or cease my self-talk with repetition            
(this head skirmish)            momentarily
            a starting point is
not easy to pin down, but easy to forget

Glossary

¿he estado / soñando todo este tiempo? – Have I been dreaming all this time?

si pudiera aceptar una invitación – if I could accept an invitation

Rose Hunter’s book of poetry, glass, was published by Five Islands Press in 2017. From Brisbane, she lived in Canada for ten years and currently spends a lot of time in Mexico, where she works remotely as an editor and ESL teacher. More information about her can be found at rosehunterwriting.com, and she tweets @BentWindowBooks, a chapbook publisher she founded. These poems were written during a stay in Las Vegas.