RYAN DI FRANCESCO

@ryan_difrancesco

Stems


what’s left
has been
erased

picked
and scraped
from sludge
skinned

through
the gutter

rising
like stems

torn

from the roots
of the eye

turned inward
where

the vein
is clamped
to the starved

unseen

and still
surfacing

in my throat

Ryan Di Francesco (he/him) is a Canadian writer, teacher and co-founder of Shadow and Sax. He began as a freelance journalist, with work appearing in The Toronto Star and outlets across North America, before turning his focus to poetry and fiction. His writing has appeared in Acta Victoriana, Pacific Review, Pinhole Poetry, Soliloquies Anthology, and more. His chapbooks include Mirage of Burning Things (Parlyaree Press), Skeleton Mine Disaster (Bottlecap Press), The Paper Hound and Canadian Classic (Alien Buddha Press). He was shortlisted for the Rhonda Gail Williford Poetry Prize. He also loves his dog, Lady Trixie Yellow Dog Mattel.