Thomas Fucaloro is the author of two books of poetry published by Three Rooms Press, most recently It Starts from the Belly and Blooms. The winner of a performance grant from the Staten Island Council of the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, he has been on five national slam teams. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI press. He is a writing coordinator at the Harlem Children’s Zone and lives in Staten Island. Has 3 chapbooks: Mistakes Disguised as Stars (Tired Hearts Press); Depression Cupcakes (Yes, Poetry); and forthcoming There is Always Tomorrow (Madgleam Press).

Using my own light
to see allows me to see
the world how I want it
to be

Mornings
don’t follow
the constant
of most
mornings.

I awake
to night.

Sharpen
my pencils
so I have
something
to point
with.

Then I use
my fingers
to write.

I sharpen
my coffee
with some
vermouth.

I saddle
the space
I haven’t
written to
yet.

Another
failed
moon.

My light
stays
with me.

I have
a lamp-
shade
for
a head.

[image: Die Lampe]