Hambre

By George Such

Issue 37 • Spring 2018 • Poetry

In Spanish we’re not hungry, we have it –
we say, tengo hambre, I have hunger,
as if hunger is a possession or affliction,
something like love in English, a thing
we are in which is also in us, a state
of having and being had.

Once hunger spoke to me in Spanish
saying: te quiero, I want you. Abrázame
she said, and let me embrace you.
Quiero tenerte. Will you have me?
Her voice was lusty. Don’t be afraid
she told me, don’t run to stuff yourself –
that will only make you dull and heavy.
Sense me in your cells, let me permeate
your body. I can teach you how to savor
everything you put inside your mouth.

George Such

George Such recently graduated from University of Louisiana with a Ph.D. in English, a significant change from his previous incarnation as a chiropractor for twenty-seven years in Washington State. His creative writing has appeared in Arroyo Literary Review, Barely South Review, The Cape Rock, Dislocate, and many other literary journals. His poetry collection Where the Body Lives was selected as winner of the 2012 Tiger’s Eye Chapbook Contest. George enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling, and learning more about the world, which presently includes studying Spanish and personal fitness training. Occasionally he will fast, which is how he got to know Hambre.

Jen Kindbom

Jen Kindbom is the author of CADBBRA, a collection of poems from Cascadia Publisging House and the chapbook A NOTE ON THE DOOR from Finishing Line Press. Her work has appeared in Adroit Journal, Connotation Press, and others. Originally from Cleveland, Jen lives in Wooster, Ohio and works as as a high school teacher and designer. Oates has had solo shows in NYC at Susan Eley Fine Art, The Arsenal Gallery, The Center for Book Arts, The Brooklyn Public Library and the MTA Arts & Design Light Box Project at 42nd Street.