"What God Gave Me or, Instructions On How To Live A Nomadic Life" is new poetry from Cynthia Cruz. It appears in PEN America 11: Make Believe.

Fighter planes carrying American
cigarettes, and sugar in its
diabetic variations: penny candy,
Wonder Bread, and cases of generic
beer. Convoys of trucks bringing fire
water, hundred proof. Antlers, missiles,
clusters of wire, crosses, and rope.
Spurs, skulls, crossbones, and the white
fox of death, stuffed with ripped twenty
dollar bills marked counterfeit. A frayed
rayon tent. War paint, just in case.
Bison leather, horsehair,
a blue tarp, an eagle feather.
A handbook on exile, every page
burned out.

Copyright © 2009 by Cynthia Cruz. All rights reserved.