gestures

In place of physical
affection I am

sent memes and gifs.

I do it too. The bear
eating cake at the table.

This is not perfect.

Something done
toward feeling full.

A hand with a baby
chameleon on each finger.

Vanessa Couto Johnson is the author of pungent dins concentric, her first full-length book (Tolsun Books, December 2018). She is also the author of three chapbooks, most recently speech rinse (Slope Editions’ 2016 Chapbook Contest winner). “Try the yen relish,” a sixteen-page prose poem sequence, is in Oxidant | Engine’s BoxSet vol. 1. Foundry, Softblow, Thrush, Field, Blackbird, Cream City Review, and other journals and anthologies have featured her poetry. A Brazilian born in Texas (dual citizen), she is currently a Lecturer at Texas State University, where she earned her MFA.