Caroline Fernandez

Tipton Poetry Journal – Fall 2021

Unleashed

Caroline Fernandez

Nothing like walking past the chain-link trail from you the waist-deep pit in you the sky-high climb to you the spools of morse code winding ‘round you. Where once I followed your many faces with an untethered compass, now I stay on track as you leak out of me.

Slow, thick oil spills from the pores of my slackened flesh the teeth marks along my wrists from my gnarled ankles the gums of my brittle grin the scabs threading my knees. Coarse, scorching tar hardens on me as snowflakes of dead skin hover, and walls of locusts surround the lion's den as it begins to stir. I must limp quietly.

Caroline Fernandez is an Indo-Canadian journalist and performer based in Dubai. Her reporting has ranged from media analysis to arts, business, and culture, and she has also contributed to and led several social justice projects around sexuality and inequality. She has been published in various news publications including TimeOut Dubai, toronto.com and Communicate. She's performed on stages across Toronto, Montreal, Bangalore and Dubai. She is also the founder of the multimedia news platform Kerosene Digital. Currently she is an MFA candidate at Vermont College and is working on a collection of essays and poetry.