[With the Invisibility They Gave Me] 

With the invisibility they gave as if I had no body, 
only soul wavering up or down stairs, I stole. From 
my stepmother's alligator patterned wallet removed 
bills. Or was there never such thing as unquenchable 

spirit & no angels singing above the 7-11 as I whispered 
across its fluorescent lit tiles? Just miles of nerves & 
trillions of cells churning conversions of glucose & O2 
to energy in time to the slurpee machine's stirred vats 

of uranium green, lava orange. Or was my soul rotating 
slowly like the hot dogs on steel rollers day & night? At 
the sugary edge of unseen I freed foil-wrapped gum or 
tootsie roll. Until her eyes through the screen door scrim 

lasered my mouth chewing taffy. Bought an entire bag of its 
chocolate wrongness, dumped it in front of me, said eat.

Dan Alter has published poems and translations widely in journals including Field, Fourteen Hills, Pank, and Zyzzyva. His collection My Little Book of Exiles (Eyewear Press), won the poetry prize for the 2022 Cowan Writer’s Awards. Hills Full of Holes, his second collection, will be published by Fernwood Press in 2025. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and daughter where he makes his living as an IBEW electrician. See more of his work on his website.

Featured Artwork:
Nightlights (Park Avenue)

Patrick McEvoy’s illustrated works have appeared most recently in Glint and Old Pal. Short plays have appeared in various festivals in NY, including “Calling” at self-produced Eclectica. Photography has been featured in online galleries such as HMVC and other literary journals.