Boots laced tight Shrouded I set out into a winter night’s Violence seeking The bone-setter No one knew the way So they sent the one Accustomed to insignificance Since I would find the path easy Knowing only back-roads The Waggoner drove along The upper road Of night At the tail Of the Great Bear You know the feeling Of frost crunching on toes But pain your only companion So you walk with it Like an old friend, bite after bite? Air burned my breath sooty Constricting my airway As narrow as a smokestack And I thought I would cough up Diamonds The squall carried the sound Of cracking limbs But there were no trees On this empty snow-plain My being the only thing standing Creeping upon a specter As would seize a heart I caught the bone-setter Snapping bone after bone Of broken, dislocated travelers
Alexander Perez began writing poetry in 2022 at age forty-eight. Since then, he has published in Blue Unicorn, South Florida Poetry Review, Queer Toronto Literary Magazine, and elsewhere. He has a chapbook entitled Immortal Jellyfish forthcoming in 2023 from Finishing Line Press. Alexander is a member of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and resides in Upstate New York with his partner James. For more, feel free to visit perezpoetrystudio.com.
