LAUNCH DAY POETRY & COLLAGES BY INGRID M. CALDERON-COLLINS

TRIGGER WARNING: NUDE CONTENT IN COLLAGES

a certain possession of freedom 
I crave a suckling mouth on my breast some months
I crave the attention I could only imagine a child gives
At my age, there are other things I should be craving
Like a good dentist
A savings account
A phone full of pictures in some country where no one looks like me
But, when I get this strange pull to finally
See
Why my mother failed so miserably at loving me
I remember her advice to me:
stay free

there is plenty of food in this country 
we will starve
& the animals will rejoice in this.
they will live, 
and watch us peck ourselves sick.
they’ll sit idly,
listening to our aching bellies weep--
empty of slaughter,
and ask,
“how’s it feel?”

exciting times 
Holding you at night, is a great tragedy.

It is a struggle keeping my happiness from rotting.

Joy isn’t easily digested,

it is destruction,

hypocrisy,

desire.

There are moments, 

where clutter turns humorous.

Where plastic is a reminder of negligence.

Where you are the bitter taste of a morning routine.

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~ COLLAGES ~

"With these collages I took two things that are infinite, merged them and struck the tuning fork. Most things in nature and in the cosmos end up resembling the bodies and liquids we inhabit. The mystery exists only if we aren’t paying attention. Sexuality & the solar system are conditions that are boundless and in constant flux. These two things cause a great dull ache in me because of how incredibly overt and taboo one of them is, and how perfectly vast and mysterious the other. Dichotomy and liminality is where the lessons live, so I prefer this suspended state more so than not. These collages explode both of these enormous concepts into a small square, much like how we do on the internets."

​

Ingrid M. Calderon-Collins is an immigrant from El Salvador. Her work has been featured in YES POETRY, Luna Luna Magazine, FIVE:2:ONE, Moonchild Magazine amid others. She was the hostess of the monthly poetry reading series, “They’re Just Words” at Book Show in Highland Park, CA where she featured poets from all over L.A. County from 2017-2019. Currently, she runs a literary magazine called “RESURRECTION mag,” where she encourages poets, artists and photographers to share their joys and sorrows. She is the author of fourteen books. She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband, painter John Collins.