Lisa Russ Spaar’s poem “Before I Can Exist, I Have to Enter the Gift Shoppe” (from Soul Cake) appears in the November 25 print issue of The New Yorker. You can find it online here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/25/before-i-can-exist-i-have-to-enter-the-gift-shoppe-lisa-russ-spaar-poem