San José Famous – Kym Cunningham

He emerges from behind a building
all chest & no legs
hairless nipples & a new tattoo
sprouting under his neck
Dusk glints off sweating
skin & stale machismo

Another comes out behind him
—staring—at the shirt that hangs
round his throat
The black boxer-briefs and buckled pants
that sag below
They turn—Head-nod—Part ways

I watch the first wipe dryness from his
lip and look away

Kym Cunningham will receive her MFA from San Jose State University with emphases in creative nonfiction and poetry.  She acted as the lead Nonfiction Editor of Reed Magazine, the oldest literary magazine West of the Mississippi.  She received the Ida Fay Sachs Ludwig Memorial Scholarship and the Academy of American Poets Prize for outstanding achievement in her writing. Her writing has been published in Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, The Writing Disorder, The 3288 Review, Drunk Monkeys, and Reed. You can read more of her work at http://writingdisorder.com/kym-cunningham/, https://zingarapoet.net, and http://www.foliateoak.com/kimberly-cunningham.html.