by Marina Carreira
We drop off leftovers under the bridge, hand them
to a man whose face is smoothed red by wind and wine.
It is unseasonably warm, and I’m grateful for it,
watching a group layer up old comforters and torn bags
around each other. Driving away empty, I remember
Mary in Singapore: if the world were only pain and logic,
who would want it? Still, I struggle with how men
are capable of leaving each other behind.
How millions freeze and starve while millionaires stack
bricks and steel around them. And the worker bees, we buzz
on trains, tired, numb, coffee in tow, while soot-stained alters
set up to an invisible god tremble against the tracks.
Marina Carreira (she/they) is a queer Luso-American multidisciplinary artist from Newark. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Carreira is the author of Desgracada (Bottlecap Press, 2023), Tanto Tanto (Cavankerry Press, 2022), Save the Bathwater (Get Fresh Books, 2018), and I Sing To That Bird Knowing It Won’t Sing Back (Finishing Line Press, 2017). She has exhibited her art at the Newark Museum, Morris Museum, ArtFront Galleries, Monmouth University Center for the Arts, among others. Carreira was honored in 2021 as the City of Newark’s LGBTQ Pride Champion for her work in LGBTIQ+ advocacy and mutual aid. She is a 2024 Luso-American fellow in the DISQUIET Literary Program. Carreira works in higher education and teaches Women and Gender Studies at Kean University. You can find her on Instagram at @savethebathewater.
Featured Image: Lawrence Krayn “Cab Stand” – Instagram: Xquisite_Grit
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