From Ascent of the Mothers, which was published in November by Wave Books.

Lucent transitions, the heat

And draft of four stories, how did

I get here so quickly? My attention

Always wavering, as my eye wanders

In and out of apprehension. Give

Me one reason I shouldn’t be scared?

I tell you this: that down comforter

Is a tent by the waters of Babylon,

And I do what I do without complaint

Now. The beautiful minimum by the

Drunken window, something for just

Myself for a little while. Throat held

Up to the moonlight, the silver of

Spring evenings, they’re flowers, they know.