{"id":143757,"date":"2020-03-25T19:23:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T23:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=143757"},"modified":"2020-03-25T19:23:42","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T23:23:42","slug":"2020-whiting-awards-diannely-antigua-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/03\/25\/2020-whiting-awards-diannely-antigua-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Diannely Antigua, Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Diannely Antigua. Photo: Savuth Thor.<\/p><\/div>\n

Diannely Antigua is a Dominican American poet, born and raised in Massachusetts. Her debut collection, Ugly Music<\/em> (YesYes, 2019), was the winner of the Pamet River Prize. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and received her M.F.A. at New York University. She is the recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, Community of Writers, and the Fine Arts Work Center Summer Program. Her work has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her poems can be found in Washington Square Review<\/em>, Bennington Review<\/em>, The Adroit Journal<\/em>, Cosmonauts Avenue<\/em>, Sixth Finch<\/em>, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

\u201cPraise to the Boys\u201d<\/p>\n

………….<\/span>On Thursdays the boys played basketball
\nin the church parking lot
\n………….<\/span>while Sister Priscilla taught the girls
\nto sew on buttons, stitch hems, iron collars.
\n………….<\/span>She\u2019d lean her rigid body to guide
\nmy hands at the machine, her cabbage breath
\n………….<\/span>lingering as she walked to the next girl.
\nGod lingered too. God watched
\n………….<\/span>my hands feed the needle blue cloth bits at a time. He
\nwatched my mouth, knew where I\u2019d put it next, on the end
\n………….<\/span>of a thread before pulling it through the eye.
\nSometimes I\u2019d imagine hemming my uniform
\n………….<\/span>above my knee. Sometimes I\u2019d fake a migraine
\nso I could watch from the attic, the boys
\n………….<\/span>with sleeves to their elbows, maybe
\njust down to a T-shirt. I\u2019d watch
\n………….<\/span>their bodies sweat in ways I\u2019d only seen at the altar
\nto a song I was singing, my voice inducing
\n………….<\/span>a twitch of limbs, a wag of tongue
\nin something we weren\u2019t meant to understand.
\n………….<\/span>But God understood. He watched
\none of those boys sell drugs at gunpoint,
\n………….<\/span>watched one marry my sister, then another
\nkiss a baby\u2019s toes. Three years later
\n………….<\/span>I\u2019d touch the sweat of one, in the backseat
\nof a Dodge Ram van, windows tinted, skirt
\n………….<\/span>pulled up to my waist. God saw the boy
\nlick a silent prayer, saw my back
\n………….<\/span>curve in exalt.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

\u201cDiary Entry #1: Testimony\u201d<\/p>\n

I hope no one reads this\u2014
\nI was pregnant in the purple dress<\/p>\n

when I escaped from the house.
\nI was going camping, I was going to Canada. I was<\/p>\n

missing a girl who was not a bride.
\nAnd I\u2019m still searching for<\/p>\n

the face. There was a surgery,
\na bald head and a grieving. Tomorrow<\/p>\n

I will apologize
\nabout that burst, my ugly ghost.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll feel guilty for two people. I\u2019ll go
\nto the bathroom to get married<\/p>\n

and dream of a driveway. In the dream, I\u2019ll feel
\nthe kiss. It\u2019s the year 2000<\/p>\n

and I did all my homework. The pastor
\nsuspects nothing. I am 12.<\/p>\n

We play the weird game.
\nAnd that\u2019s not the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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