José Angel Araguz, Ph.D., is the author of Rotura (Black Lawrence Press, 2022), from which these poems come. His poetry and prose have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, The Acentos Review, and Oxidant | Engine, among other places. He is an Assistant Professor at Suffolk University, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Salamander, and is also a faculty member of the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program. He blogs and reviews books at The Friday Influence.