Grit and Sunlight

What springs up: insistence

in this persistent

mother of mine (still breathing)

Even busy ashes from a rescued urn

float up reconstituted as morning dew

She unfolds her tendril arms from shadow

(shaking just five days ago as if in temporary surrender)

(that moment when I am less certain of her longevity)

this woman ever present (anyone’s mother) aging

when even the most spindly clover of her

fragile skin

captures the sunrise light like

anticipation’s shower blood underneath all

humming

bird or spores from her heart and in her mouth

inhale (frightened) breath exhale grit

inhale (certain) breath exhale grit

Comments

Vessel

Inside I imagine puckered cups of butter cookies nested in paper that releases a sigh But instead there may be fiction within wishes never reciprocated Playbill of redundant arguments One black glove found fraying This vessel on an emptied table solo temptation is labeled with another’s name Guarded initials as if carved in melting snow A tool unsuited to the task of prying open Not yet valentine

Shameless Early Promotion

My poetry book, The Fiction of Stillness, is available for pre-order now on Barnes and Noble. Official release date August 1st, 2024. Here's a taste: ... The table is smooth and round symmetric The chairs are haphazardly placed at the end of this day I have breast cancer I say into the receiver [communities must] pool resources How to produce the sounds of the imaging report into sentences that resonate with months of postponement weighty contrast on my right side computing and comparing IM ratios for greater insight not sufficient to prove the efficacy of screening ...

As Mourning Doves Persist

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