Cristina Querrer was born and raised in the Philippines, post Vietnam War, during the Marcos regime, pre-Mount Pinatubo eruption, as a (US Air Force) military child. She graduated high school from former Wagner High School, Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, in 1985. Her works have appeared in The Adirondack Review, The Fairfield Review, Stirring, and in print anthologies such as Pinoy Poetics, Babaylan, Bombshells, The Mom Egg, and Field of Mirrors. Querrer received her MFA in Creative Writing from National University and her BA in Creative Writing with a minor in Visual Arts from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. She currently lives, works and creates in the quaint town of Dunedin, FL.

from The Art of Exporting

The Conchologist

I am in love with theories. He sees
hearts as shells. Concupiscent order—
golden ratio of the conch,
milky mother of pearls
he dove many fathoms for but did not
conciliate his hunger. He counts,
collects, arranges, this gatherer
of things. Writes songs that do not
praise beauty. Though he knows
how divine it is. Scientific.
Un-shaman-like. He keeps
finding new breeds to name.
The hypocrisy of the hull that
holds a heart of a creature
just for the sheen and texture
of time. The currents, sand
and sudden storms that shaped
us; his meritorious collection,
are deceptive measurements
of who I have become.