[11/13/2026]

[POETRY]

All This Death

Two Poems by cixous lecomte

The Truth

we do not open the door to the room
where he died.
this is not a metaphor, but the truth.

my grandmother asks is he still in this house?

‍ ‍and i cannot carry this answer for her.

i point her towards the
clay hummingbird on the ofrenda,
underneath a photo
of my grandfather coaching
little league, a bat tucked beneath his elbow

we meet eyes with the bird, and suddenly,
it’s alive
and my grandfather is
not

The Prayer

pay attention to the desert
sunset,
are you moved? do you see all this
death?

i do not like it when the birds die, but here it is inevitable.

in my desert, we are all wind shredded and the roadkill
persists

and i ask you to breathe dirt,
to know me by
the roadkilled snake. this is where
i come from. you
must see it.

CIXOUS LECOMTE is a Chicana writer and director from the Mojave Desert. She is the co-founder of Shrieking Owl Productions, a theater company and artist collective that operates in the Mojave Desert. Find her work @shriekingowlpro & her life @cxious. Her poetry has been featured in Apricity Press, Driftwood Press & Art of Nothing Press.