poem – Thistle Thoughts

Basin: A Poem

These flood damaged photographs
speak in your voice

my blood can’t handle
any more apologies, insistence
on the right to celebrate
genocide…

At first sight,
a pale baby bird

None of this is you, jagged pages,
annotated quotes — other voices
said what you couldn’t and better

I think of loneliness
& laser beam precision

A Day Like a Trinity,
Three in One to Blame

I make these plans to write —
like a “real writer”

Remember winter, Madonna’s
Immaculate Collection album,
Megaman III, a false sense of
innocent security

in their eyes we are worth
what we can do for them

brother, you tried
again to leave me
and I think my stomach
has known this
for weeks

the tide that took
you away had a
street name