When Do Dahlias Bloom?
by Jose Hernandez Diaz
A man in a “The World Is Burning” shirt darted into the public library on a midsummer's day. It was 91 degrees in southern California. The library was a good escape for the locals; everyone was welcome.
The man in a “The World Is Burning” shirt read his favorite Spanish language poet, Vicente Huidobro. He loved the musicality and imagery of Huidobro’s fine work.
As he was eagerly reading Huidobro, a woman in a “Frida Kahlo for President” shirt came up to him and asked the time.
“It is 2:42 pm,” he said. “I have to go to my haiku writing workshop soon.”
“Can I go with you?” The woman in a “Frida Kahlo for President” shirt asked, on a whim.
“Of course!” he said. “Nothing would make me happier.”
They both had written dozens of haikus before. Both were odd-English-major-types. But this was their first haiku writing session together. Their first date.
They both wrote about flowers in an idyllic field. He wrote about marigolds; she wrote about dahlias.
The Search
by Jose Hernandez Diaz
A man in a “The World is Burning” shirt went outside of his cabin in the woods in search of his name. Was it Gaston? Was it Federico? Was it Jean Michel Basquiat? Was he named after a famous artist? Was he named after a peasant farmer? A communist revolutionary? The man in a “The World Is Burning Shirt” went to the public library next to the woods, to look for his forgotten name. He considered his name to be Petrarch. Miguel. David. Hakeem Olajuwon. Was he famous? Was he grand? Was he a champion? A beggar? Somewhere in the middle? When he finally found his name, it was written on the bottom of his bedroom slipper. His name, it turns out, was “Exist.” Exister. Existed. Existence. Existing. Exist.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020), Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024), The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025), Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man (Red Hen Press, 2025) and the forthcoming, The Lighthouse Tattoo (Acre Books, 2026). He has taught creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. Currently, he is the Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Tennessee.