Flumes Volume 2: Issue 1, Summer 2017 | Page 124

Crystal Trigueros

I live in sunny California (although not too sunny at the moment with all this rain!) with my 3 kids, 2 cats and a dog. I pretty much live in a zoo, and what better way to exude that energy by writing about the animals that live among us-- both wild and domestic.

Every story I create comes from the world around me, usually my personal experiences. This piece just happens to come directly from the environment. For this piece in particular, I kept a journal of my observations of the natural environment (as part of a writing class) right in my own backyard. I began to notice almost instantly the interaction between my house cat and a wild bird. I was inspired by this interaction between the domestic and the wild and created "The Cohabitation of Cats and Birds" from my journaling which spanned about a month or so. There is so much to learn about the natural world around us-- even in suburban America.

Wren Tuatha

Wren Tuatha’s poetry has appeared or is upcoming in The Cafe Review, Canary, Coachella Review, Baltimore Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Loch Raven Review, Clover, Driftwood Press, Lavender Review, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Avatar Review, Bangalore Review, Burningword, and the anthology Grease and Tears. Wren and her partner, author/activist C.T. Lawrence Butler, herd skeptical goats on a mountain in California.

“The Raccoon Abroad”: I have a series of persona poems with me as Mika, the Wise Little Raccoon. Here, she's out and feeling sexy. This is a very musical piece, referencing the dance move called gypsy and swing, and honoring my blue-eyed musician friend's trick of playing music on chainsaw clutches. I love collecting ideas from life that can't be made up!

“4 a.m., Geneva”: I wrote this poem as an exploration of a dramatic scene I was writing in a screenplay called My Second Simone, which takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. I have always been struck by that frozen moment when the death of a loved one goes from eminent to irreversible. This is the first breath after passing that line, leaded with finality.

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