Author Description

<p>"David Martinez is like an algebra problem invented by America--he's polynomial, and fractioned, full of identity variables and unsolved narrative coefficients. . . . <i>Hustle</i> is full of dashing nerve, linguistic flair, and unfakeable heart."--Tony Hoagland</p> <p><i>The dark peoples with things:</i></p> <p><i>for keys, coins, pencils<br> and pens our pockets grieve.</i></p> <p><i>No street lights or signs,<br> no liquor stores or bars,<br> only a lighter for a flashlight,</i></p> <p><i>and the same-faced trees,<br> similar-armed stones<br> and crooked bushes<br> staring back at me.</i></p> <p><i>There is no path in the woods for a boy from the city.</i></p> <p><i>I would have set fire to get off this wilderness<br> but Palomar is no El Camino in an empty lot,</i></p> <p><i>the plastic dripping from the dash<br> and the paint bubbling like a toad's throat.</i></p> <p><i>If mountains were old pieces of furniture,<br> I would have lit the fabric and danced.</i></p> <p><i>If mountains were abandoned crack houses,<br> I would have opened their meanings with flame,</i></p> <p><i>if that would have let the wind and trees lead my eyes<br> or shown me the moon's tiptoe on the moss--</i></p> <p><i>as you effect my hand,<br> as we walk into the side of a Sunday night.</i></p> <p><b>David Tomas Martinez</b> has published in <i>San Diego Writer's Ink</i>, <i>Charlotte Journal</i>, <i>Poetry International</i>, and has been featured in <i>Border Voices</i>. A PhD candidate at the University of Houston, Martinez is also an editor for <i>Gulf Coast</i>.<br></p>