Gonzalo Martinez III

Smoke Filled Lungs and A Burnt Bird Gonzalo Martinez III

AJ survived a fire. And with a body disfigured from that horrible accident and the memories of his past lover, he takes that baggage and the baggage of his self-loathing and he carries it on his shoulder every day. And he tries to survive each day. He is constantly fighting the exhausting task of not screaming his lungs out from insecurities, a failed relationship that left his soul crippled and his sexual frustration. He feels stuck in his ways and there's no redo in life, but as he looks back on his past relationship and current relationship, he finds a disturbing detachment that he must overcome. From working at the hospital to his interaction with women, this piece of Dirty Realism fiction is laced with comedy, poetry, and the dirty side of life-that being the mundane parts or the savage parts of life, AJ must find a way to protect the burnt bird living in his chest.