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I was invited to illustrate three beautiful poems by poet and writer Reyes Ramirez, for the Fall '23 Gravy No. 89 - by Southern Food Alliance and published by Hub City Press.
This is the poem that inspired this illustration. Enjoy!
Pupusas
the pupusa is a portrait
of an honest earth:
the coarse burns continents,
the auroral dough a sea.
water joined masa through tumult
& sphered, flattened then crowned,
filled with meat & milk then smoothed,
heat birthed & bitten.
no, the pupusa is an homage
to the laborer’s backhand
where scars simmer & settle,
strawberry skin browns.
sweated flesh crackles on steaming metal,
grease singing smoke loud then sweet over & over,
flipped & rested, an iris weepy then dry,
ashen islands form & a back stiffens.
no, the pupusa is a documentation
of every pecado,
the taut pink palate
a receipt for indulgence.
a sheet of young wood pulp dims,
then an emergence of weighty shadows.
a sycamore pith rises & splits
& spits a globe of queso.
no, the pupusa is a bulging mirror
to this sleepless face. examine
the wrinkle bowls under each eye & find
another tired eye under another tired eye.
the cream sol bulges then sombers,
sunspots & scabs black;
what can this light nourish
but a body ripe with eonic exhaustion?
no, the pupusa is a portrait
of this life, crusting & breaking
with every lick & tooth, the desire & gift
of jarabe yielding to the shape of a belly.
crack open the soft disc egg
& study its ivory thick blood & tender marron,
stretching like a timeline of grief,
& lap the fresh veins.
These are some of the sketches and creative process to create the illustration. From pen on paper to the procreate on the ipad.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/c72e3862-f26f-46a1-a08e-0632d6ed734c_rw_1920.jpg?h=a913a90e5d83b3ea4e6fc8f4a1468c09)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/2c8c2f4f-b91c-4ece-8ca5-ff3387b265b8_rw_1920.jpg?h=4608d33fa7f28bc8b9b5d988c4cdb1f5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/55dec305-cec1-4c78-adf2-72c7505c0baa_rw_1920.jpg?h=a087da0499128ee39ad22e6e3715b28a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/a3e6214e-bff0-4b58-9789-1168010122dd_rw_1920.jpg?h=e379b92c8b4048df11031b4dba01e8ae)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/9d41d4b9-3cc9-4801-ac77-504bf1a58804_rw_1920.jpg?h=d264bef127919ad0e71ef5a72a4706d9)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/28fcef7e-2c0b-4d4a-9d38-95f9ad029371_rw_1920.jpg?h=0777159bafecc3842e3f8f522e4b72f1)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/c111a234-11d2-43f2-9937-0ee5acd8819c_rw_1920.jpg?h=c6a29509594e592be3e2a701fd386059)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/408d6594-0f72-4ecb-88e8-4b09fd3091e6/ee1cbb54-e566-4375-9bd8-e395b154bd40_rw_1920.jpg?h=8fab8b13609ebef525536bb173c45fff)
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