If we can put a man on the moon,
surely we can figure this out.

If the man puts out the moon,
we can surely put that man-figure out.

The moon can-cans on. Man insures.
We put out this figure: If.

Put a figure on the can. We can out this,
we can moon-man on. Surely.

Out can the moon. Put a sure man.
If we can, we figure this, we out it.

The moon, the moon. Can a man
be sure? Can we? Out, out.

This man is a figure. The moon
is a can. We put on the Surely Can. We out.

—

Chloe Martinez is a poet and scholar of South Asian religions. Her forthcoming chapbook, Corner Shrine, was selected by Geffrey Davis as the winner of the 2019 Backbone Press Chapbook Competition, and her poems have appeared in Waxwing, Prairie Schooner, The Common and elsewhere. She is the Program Coordinator for the Center for Writing and Public Discourse at Claremont McKenna College, as well as Lecturer in Religious Studies. See more at www.chloeAVmartinez.com.