"After Reading The Vegetarian" by Dorsía Smith Silva

After Reading The Vegetarian

Are you looking for me?

You will not find me at the Majang Meat Market
next to the stacked stalls of tender hanwoo beef and pork belly,
among carved tunnels of red-raw body parts.
I will not be there.

Are you looking for me?

You will not find me in the restaurant by Pedestrian Gate,
watching the carnivores lick the bubbling barbequed meat juice
from their fingers like eager gods with honeyed ambrosia.
I will not be there.

If you look closely for me,
you will see me sprouting roots,
gathering the soil under my feet and nails.
You will smell the spiced long lean green glades on my face.
You will remember me surrounded by cool coniferous trees,
sheltered by their wall of needles,
hiding a secret like gardens in winter.

Dorsía Smith Silva

Dorsía Smith Silva is a Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Her poetry has been published in several journals and magazines in the United States and the Caribbean, including New Reader Magazine, Portland Review, Rock & Sling, Heartwood Literary Review, Stoneboat, MisfitMagazine, Nassau Review, Shot Glass, Moko Magazine, and POUI: Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing. She is also the editor of Latina/Chicana Mothering and the co-editor of six books.

Headshot: Doris A. Smith

Photo Credit: Staff