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Roberto Harrison

Roberto Harrison is the author of Counter Daemons, published by Litmus Press in August, 2006. He was born in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1962, to

Panamanian parents. A few months after his birth, he and his family moved back to Panama, where they lived until he was seven. In 1969, he and his family moved to Delaware. His first language was Spanish, and he did not begin learning English until arriving in Delaware. He has lived in various places throughout the United States including Boston, Bloomington, Indiana and San Francisco. Roberto now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he works as a Systems Librarian. He edits Crayon with Andrew Levy, and the Bronze Skull Press chapbook series. His work has appeared in Talisman, Jacket, New American Writing, Mandorla, Salt (UK), Cordite (Australia), Antennae, and many other journals.

from Counter Daemons

Roberto Harrison

¿are you
the signal
that another plane
carves into wings
in rounded contusions
of a late afternoon
storm,
full of sparks
that the night hurries out
on Locust and serial
cheeks
shrouded
in shiny costumes?

¿are you
a circle
like juntas
that the winter makes clear
on the shaved orbiting molecule
that the ear revolves
around,
in a retreat
of explosive
fossils?

¿are you
memorizing
the connections
between the hand
and the foot
and the torso
in reverse
of the automatic?

¿are you
materializing
the unknown
without weather
to increase
the planet
otherwise?

¿are you
pocketing
the insurance claims
that parkas
and snow equips
with sutures
and hand grenades?

¿forever?

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