The 2River View


30.4 (Summer 2026)

Dolo Diaz

Grace

Sometimes I forget to put coffee grounds

in the moka pot.

Water brews itself

without a hint of murkiness.

I make myself drink

the clear hot water.

 

Sometimes I don’t put

a cup under the spout

of the Nespresso machine.

The murky brew pours onto the

table. I force myself

to lick the table.

 

Sometimes I crack an egg,

trash yolk and white,

and throw the shells

in the frying pan.

I force myself to eat

fried shells.

 

The things I can’t control

will not stop.

I may never stop

the ones I can.

 

 

Unrooting

For Jane Kenyon

 

She bathed herself in light

and then it came for her

a few years later.

 

Before her time, but

that was her time.

 

What else is there once

you soak in that? Pores

saturated.

 

Why was her path to it

so rugged the second time around?

Why didn’t the light snip her out

like she did to her white roses?

 

Why did it have to pull

and pull and ravage

her roots?


Dolo Diaz is a scientist and poet with roots in Spain, currently residing in California. Her work has appeared in Centaur, Indianapolis Review, ONE ART, Slant, Summerset Review, and Third Wednesday, among others.