Emigrant Haiku (i)

open tooth-yanked mouth
propped against a wall of heat
gumming at the stars

crumpled and bloodsoaked
recommendation letter
in left-hand pocket

ring finger hacked off
two fists tightened—
nightchilled/incomplete

those pleas for mercy
whisperscreamed repeatedly—
littered around corpse

Currently based in Mexico, Dylan Brennan‘s poetry, essays and memoirs have been published in a range of international journals, in English and Spanish. His debut poetry collection, Blood Oranges, for which he received the runner-up prize in the Patrick Kavanagh Award, is available now from The Dreadful Press.