‘Terrycloth’ & ‘My Cicada Song’

Ian Gonzaga is a visual artist born and raised in Southern California. He earned a BA in Film & Television Studies from California State University, Fullerton in 2006 and has lived and worked in both Orange County and Los Angeles for most of his life. Gonzaga’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, drawing, mixed media, and analog film photography.

Terrycloth 

The day we pulled ourselves out of the sea 

The sun was murmuring and drowsy 

You wanted to show me 

How to fold the towels properly 

When you carefully brought the seams 

Under and across

My silly head drifted and imagined I was made of terrycloth How sweet it would seem to be floral embossed Softer and warmer hued 

Than vegetable broth 

All my sharp edges tucked under and across 

To abandon what I feared and the things I could want To sit in my place 

on some shelf 

And patiently wait 

For the moths  

My Cicada Song 

you are pink strawberries 

summer’s sweet strong heat 

cicada songs thrumming 

high up in the trees 

I was down 

burrowed deep 

in the dark ground 

I crawled through the mud 

the muck and goo 

shed my skin 

just to be 

closer to the warmth 

of you 

slimy and viscous 

so brand new 

but one day 

I hope we both stop to wonder 

look dear, 

how big my wings of gossamer grew

Rachel Seidel is a poet and visual artist based in Pennsylvania. Her work explores themes of love, identity, and nature. She has been published in Wingless Dreamer. When not writing, she teaches kindergarten and practices archery—though not at the same time.