Ricardo Hernandez

To Lorine Niedecker

                  	Tell me: how
                  	does one do
                  	it, this trick:
                  	condensery?

                         	Careful cuts
                         	on the tongue
                         	after reading
                         	suggest surgical

      precision. Perhaps
                         	pres-
                         	sure. Like slipping

                                     	a hand
                                     	between
                                     	fat mattress

                  	rough box
                  	spring, only dark-
                  	er. Deeper.

      What did Blackhawk Island teach you?

      If I could go there,
                         	would I see you
                                     	kneeling on the shore,

                                                 	dipping your tea cup
                                     	into the lake?

      Would you let me take
                         	a sip?

Ricardo Hernandez is the son of Mexican immigrants. A recipient of fellowships from Lambda Literary and Poets House, his work has appeared in Assaracus, The Cortland Review, and Newtown Literary. He’s an MFA candidate at Rutgers-Newark

See full list of 2015 Emerging Poets Fellows