Luke Koesters
HOSPICE INTAKE

I close my eyes and jump / off a stone pointed cliff. / I’m back to falling / into the gulch below La Quebrada. / I was high diving / only four months ago. / I open my eyes / to a room blanketed in warmth. / It’s too warm, / and I’m still falling / onto each word the doctor / chews and spits out / like stale gum. / The hunch in my spine / juts out like a rock. / It’s cold, / I tell the doctors / touch it. / I think it feels like the coastal breeze and seashore waters. / It points me / toward memories of falling / off more comfortable cliffs. /

Luke Koesters is a queer, Asian-American poet from Omaha, Nebraska. He is working toward a BFA from the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he works as the poetry editor for the literary magazine, 13th Floor. He has poems featured or forthcoming in Main Street Rag, Pinhole Poetry, and Oakland Arts Review.

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