It gives you twelve months’ notice More than enough time for a full-term pregnancy Alas, even after the delivery It still leaves butterflies in the belly There are butterflies in my verses tonight The delivered poems stutter in hollowness Finding form, aiming to be firm…

Before I kick the bucket, give me a moment to explain. Go on, child, git yerself a seat and listen. Down on the bayou, you know the way, on an elbow of land and a bend, past Creole music and that ol’ carport, sits a…

I used to dream while awake before it got too difficult, addictive, the unreal demanding more of my energy, time, higher doses, more extreme, with promises more empty than any drug. sleeping is like a relapse – with the danger that I prefer what isn’t…

Keeping the memory of a cinnamon sea Salted with tears and blood that are proof of life, We tremor on our braid of the bayou At the elbow of the Cajun and the Creole Where our buckets bring up more catfish than cool water —…

The tremor filled the bucket with a layer of fear My elbow and  cinnamon  flew through the air The elk grazed in the carport on hand me down beet It was a lighyblub moment And l started to run Down to the bayou In one…

Halloween A lightbulb moment Under the carport Elbow deep in a black bucket Rummaging for a trick Or hopefully a treat My hands began to tremor with excitement As I pulled out a cinnamon stick

Jacket That jacket The one you wore throughout your childhood Beet red Rips at the collar and elbow A black elk head emblazoned on the back I see it still See you in it the night you stole the lightbulb from the carport Not considering…

perhaps forgiveness a beet red jacket, the easy tremor of leaves in the background, some exotic variety of bamboo grown to make a seasonal screen to hide the carport from the house and suddenly two giant swallowtail butterflies on my sleeve just above the elbow,…

Under the orange street light The stain grew Spreading out The colour of ripe beet Creating a map on his jacket He sank to his knees Goner, there was no doubt And his voice came in a tremor ‘Hey Jack, that you? Don’t you dump…

DEPRESSION Draining thoughts Entangling my mind Productive energy swept away Radically unmotivated Embarrassed to ask for help – I am told to Suck it up, grow up Silence Incredibly Overpowering Nudging me to disconnect, disassociate from the world