How poems are lost and how to find them
Heather_Ann_Pulido
I lost an elegy while I was slicing tomatoes
Lost it while I was washing the plate
I ate the tomatoes in
Lost it while I was making coffee
and furiously adding milk
to offset the caffeine jitters
I lost a sonnet while I was writing copy
For a company that sold armor
to the police
Lost it while I was buying tomatoes
to replace the ones I ate
Lost it while I was drinking water
and washing my hands
of the orange-red stains
from tomatoes
and selling police armor
Five days ago, a few uniformed men
came to put out a fire
in the marketplace, my home
an hour after it broke out
It was almost as if
by ember’s light
the elegy I lost
had found me
Heather_Ann_Pulido
Heather Ann Pulido (she/her) is an indigenous writer from Northern Philippines. She is a Language and Literature graduate student who loves drinking, eating, and writing (not necessarily in that order). She also writes children’s stories and volunteers at a local organization dedicated to upholding indigenous peoples’ rights. Her poetry and prose have been published in the Philippine anthologies "Ani" and "Kimata."