lockdown mouse

Today people shared that the word of the year for Collin’s dictionary is lockdown, and I wonder what other dictionaries will pick. It seems like a reasonable choice even though lockdown will always mean something entirely different to me. In California state prisons, lockdown refers to the time when the prison effectively closes, and all incarcerated folk are back in their room. Lockdown happens at … Continue reading lockdown mouse

just come home

They say liberty is sweet soI licked her before I left her for shackles,hoping her honey would crystallize on my tongueand my lipswould only ever speak with the memory of her. Inside the jailhouse they spray you clean ofall that freedom sugar, cold water raining downto drown the liceand hopesyou might have dragged through the door. Long ago they’d have shaved our heads,and my vanity … Continue reading just come home

spades

November 2018 His voice is comfortable with itself, the kind of calm authority you develop when people count on you to say the right thing. He is a reverend, and the food has just been set down, and we are new friends so he looks up from across the table and asks, “I’d like to say grace, if that’s alright?” I’m nodding my agreement before … Continue reading spades