José Angel Araguz

Pen

for Patrick

He explains how one
would warp from writing
in ambulances.

Taking a person’s
name and vitals,
a pen would

bear with him,
take the shape
he holds now

between empty fingers.
This shape he shares
with me while speaking

quietly, I hold it now
and in this space is
the evidence of what is left.

________________________________________________________________________________________

José Angel Araguz, Ph.D. is the author of Rotura (Black Lawrence Press, 2022). His poetry and prose have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, The Acentos Review and Oxidant | Engine among other places. He is an Assistant Professor at Suffolk University where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Salamander and is also a faculty member of the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program. He blogs and reviews books at The Friday Influence.