a poem by rio cortez

The Big Screen

breaks the dim
and hushes
us everybody
rapt & watching
the Tyson fight
my father
shadow boxing
on the sofa or

that Luther laserdisc
he is singing
along to
& my mother
looking at him
from someplace
& smiling
& knowing
something I don't
how they're down
there while I sleep
& I sleep harder
for it




Rio Cortez is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she received the Lucy Grealy Prize in poetry. She is currently an MFA candidate at New York University, a Cave Canem fellow, and a recipient of the 2012 Poets & Writers Amy Award. Her work has appeared in Clementine, Tuesday, Tidal Basin Review, Sugar House Review, Cratelit & most recently in Saul Williams’ Chorus. Born & raised in Salt Lake City, she now loves & lives in Queens, NY.