Vanessa Couto Johnson

I’m all dewclaws

The beans are
walked to a boil. 

I thumb a clause,
unsure if up 

or down. If truth
be trodden, 

the general finds
a specimen. Or 

the general
-ization from 

specifics. Form
homology forelimb 

around the lumber,
sleepless in settled score. 

Punnett square
predicts the recesses, 

so relax your
droppings as you cross. 

What else are we
outside for. Trail crumb.

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Vanessa Couto Johnson (she/they) is the author of the full-length poetry books Pungent dins concentric (Tolsun Books, 2018) and forthcoming pH of Au (Parlor Press, Free Verse Editions Series 2022), as well as three poetry chapbooks. Most recently, Vanessa's poems have appeared in Abandon Journal, Angel Rust, Pine Hills Review, Star 82 Review, and Superstition Review. A Brazilian born in Texas (dual citizen), VCJ has taught at Texas State University since 2014.