Old stories — of mythology or religion — have sometimes been depicted as having one narrative and one interpretation. Here, J. Estanislao Lopez takes on the voice of a character whose story ended in violence, inviting listeners to claim their agency as this character claims hers.

J. Estanislao Lopez is the author of We Borrowed Gentleness (Alice James Books, 2022). His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Rumpus, and Poetry Magazine, as well as the anthology The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext. Lopez received his MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer J. Estanislao Lopez’s poem, and invite you to connect with Poetry Unbound throughout this season.