Eliana Gradishar

The August Selected Poet is Eliana Gradishar

Please feel free to email Eliana at:

nutty0426@gmail.com

DROOL

heaven shine imprinted
on the bottoms of mad feet
the tattooed skin
of an underground chemistry
effervescent spontaneity
heat inebriating the magic doldrum
such is the fleet of a corrugated heart
arriving at 5-cent-poetry
zombies debating their own drool
fools trapped in seizures of love
poised to rescue the vulgar-sweet
buried deep in their necromantic entrails

MARLBORO RED

smitten
post-contusion
postpone the ablution

for a sin
i have yet
to commit

our love is
the sacred
unlit cigarette

everyday Christmas
abysmal litmus
what sort of language is this
incendiary bliss

do ignite my fancy
mouth on toes
because Sid did for Nancy

as embers chase ashes
lips with smoke rings interlace
bodies like crosses coalesce
to find redemption in the truest of torments

PILGRIMAGE IN NEW ORLEANS

my felonies walk in February dusk, towards salvation
parched parade, following yet fighting the herd
how many more crosswalks, piss talks,
before the stlouis cathedral

eyes close as honed cobblestone licks my glittered soul
a healthy dose of curses, metal roses, verses;
crosses placed past desultory gates,  
tarot-fevered peace awaits

a vigil for martyrs slows the sweat; breath for a crystal pink rosary
caressing the candle, left inside a grey corduroy pocket
unlit, never to séance in suffocating bliss
the purity of cross-bred deities

NIGHTMARE CREED

the soft parts
of your eye sockets
look like ice cream to me
but in order to lick there
i may have to scrape deeper
make you scream
who knows how a hangnail
might affect
the skinning of the bone
welcome to my
motherfucking death throne
where truncated limbs
vital offerings
of tender flesh advances
offer no consolation
but can only build
upon the gall of your retaliation

Eliana Gradishar is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana at a young age.  She is a cultural anthropologist academically and a social worker by profession.  Her areas of interest explore cross-cultural spirituality and the plasticity of the human mind. 

Through poetry, Eliana hopes to create a dialogue of intense emotion and thought.  Her poems have been selected for display via a community project called St. Tammany Poetry on the Streets, and she recently participated in the Jane Austen Festival (2017 and 2018) as part of a panel of other selected poets.  She attends several writing groups, including Poets Alive, Bayou Writers and Inklings in Mandeville, Louisiana.