April 2020

bio

    LA native, Joshua Corwin is an emerging poet and a recent graduate from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA with a degree in Mathematics and a minor in Philosophy. His poem 'SALT' is forthcoming (August 31) in Spectrum Publishing, vol. 20, ‘Who's Your Honey?’ Currently, he is working on his first, full-length book, Becoming Vulnerable. Joshua writes to honor his grandpa, Mert, whose last words to him were “Don’t ever stop writing.”

12:01 AM

I can hear the shine in your eyes
on the other end of the telephone.

When I speak like this,
I feel authentic
and not heavy.

I don’t have to tattoo meaning in the air
to know what you mean.

I remember when you first told me…
apropos of nothing…
about the different levels of charitable donation.

I was sitting right across from you — over there.
(You in that armchair, me in this one: our eyes.)

You said there’s the donor who gives large sums
and puts a placard on the wall, signifying
who it’s from;

and then there’s the other one who gives…
but remains anonymous.

Your words hanging like a phantom,
I didn’t have to be who I thought I was;

you were once me,
once where I was…

In that moment, I knew.

copyright 2020 Joshua Corwin