Lauren Scharhag
Lauren Scharhag (she/her) is a queer poet and author of Latinx descent. She is an associate editor for GLEAM: Journal of the Cadralor and the author of seventeen books, including Requiem for a Robot Dog (Cajun Mutt Press) and Languages, First and Last (Cyberwit Press). She has had over 200 publications in literary venues around the world. Recent honors include the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest Award (finalist) and the Seamus Burns Creative Writing Prize. She has also been nominated for multiple Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Rhysling Awards. She lives in Kansas City, MO. To learn more about her work, visit www.laurenscharhag.blogspot.com.
Sometimes, I think there are talismans. If you can hit on the right configuration, you can open doors to other places. If you’re patient, you can pick the lock. I’m still trying out different combinations: a pocket watch and a pitcher of Wyler’s Electric Grape?
We didn’t know
about the stifling
box cars, the bullhooks.
We just kept
waving our light-up
plastic toys
