Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in [1]
Toni Morrison told us the truth / un
-til wrought-iron gates descend / un-cut
-table as this fortress is / this will be our heave
-n, saturnalia every night / we, part
-y cascades / patchy dirt, lit cigar
-ettes / devil caught laughter / no, those pearl
-y gates bind you tight / scotch guard, day
-school uniforms / pretty in pink / Spaniel bow
-tie covered in mud he rolled / we got broke out
-side the innards / honesty, honest
-ly jukebox rage / entrance through pais
-ley hand-ker-chief, soiled pants / mean not
-hing when we’re fists / in air lock / sharp so
-unds metal / earrings flash-fried in pan
-opticon / fenced up to keep / u
-s toothless, tired / awaiting our dear car
-cass / our beloved utopia
1. Toni Morrison in an interview with Elizabeth Farnsworth,
PBS Newshour, March 9, 1998,
Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi is a Puerto Rican-Italian poet and professor living in Aurora, Colorado. She is the winner of Fragmentation Magazine's 2025 micro fiction contest and has work published or forthcoming in wildscape. literary journal, Zimmer Magazine, and Sudden Flash, among others.