Arriving at Clinton Station

Mi dedo favorito is the thumb

argue against the technicalities

but two nights ago, a foreign thumb pressed

itself against my tongue, the other out-

lined my jaw—in that moment, sentía.

I let them know my body so well, they

counted ribs, followed the curves of my hips

upward till they hung from my bottom lip.

In that moment, the walls seemed to quiver

like both our bodies had, like both our tongues

already had. I hope you understand—

perhaps this may have been a moment of

chance. Everything was just that, a moment

further and closer, total surrender.

Julián David Bañuelos is a Chicano poet and translator from Lubbock, Tx. His poems and translations can be seen in The Cincinnati Review, The Hopkins Review, The Latino Book Review, The Common, and many more. He teaches and lives in New York City.