First Edition

      Published by Red Hen Press

       www.redhen.org

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Gratitude goes to the entire team at Red Hen Press, specifically Kate Gale who believed in this book, Natasha McClellan, and Tobi Harper for letting this book breathe and live in this world.

      Heartfelt gratitude to Marilyn Nelson for selecting this manuscript to win the Benjamin Saltman Award, as I am forever honored my words made an impression. Gratitude to Maggie Smith and TC Tolbert for speaking to my poetry and this book.

      My sincere gratitude to the editors and editorial teams of the following journals and presses in which these poems first appeared, sometimes in different forms. Your hard work and dedication to the literary world helps artists bring their creations to the world. Alaska Quarterly Review, “Of mouth this heavenly body”; azcentral.com, “In the light of”; Birdfeast, “Loose Clench” and “In the month of not-so-thankful thoughts”; Denver Quarterly, “Comfort in knowing that mathematically you are not alone in choice of love over hate,” “Mathematics of healing: a poem to America,” “Sores & Dressings: A Post Election Moment of Comfort”; Dusie, “Heliocentric”; Foundry, “Love bold”; Green Mountains Review, “In our bundle”; Lana Turner, “The retreat,” “In search of feminism,” “Once you lie a lot, it’s like second nature,” and “Ghost of innocence”; New Limestone Review, “This wild in which we”; Nine Mile Magazine, “If starlight be”; OmniVerse, “In the make,” “At the hand of other,” “America, ain’t I a woman,” “Winterize, oh America,” and “In time, brave, brave”; Poetrybay, “& in unmake, reveal”; Tarpaulin Sky, “Poem to America [My nerves expose, unwilling;]”; The Collagist, “In our nation’s capital” [& what releases from your body…]; West Branch (Contemporary American Prose Poetry Feature), “Unapologetic,” and “In preparation for fiery climates: a poem to America”; wildness, “& in burn you also” and “Star in burn”; Zocalo Public Square, “Back to quiet.”

      Thank you to Tupelo Press’s 30/30 Project in which first drafts of thirty of these poems were first generated in November 2016.

      My heart and deepest gratitude go out to my family, friends, and communities: Melody Henderson, Joe Zamora, Linda Zamora, Shahida Robinson, Melinda Van Rooyen, Justin Petropoulos, Malik Toms, John Calderazzo, Stephanie G’Schwind, Dan Beachy-Quick, Todd Mitchell, Beth and Bruce Van Wyk, Tammy and Mark Van Maurer, Michelle Deschenes, Susan Harness, Heather Matthews, and Foula Dimopoulos. My art would not be possible without your enduring support and belief in me as a human being. I am forever grateful for all of you. The magic you all bring to my life is unfathomable. Gracias. Gracias.

      Chris, always. Always us. Our journeys of the elation and the horrid, always us, my love. Always us.

      Finally, lovely reader, here we are together. How can we not be? These words are for us.

      for you, lovely reader . . . for us

      CONTENTS

       AT THE HAND OF OTHER

       At the hand of other

       In our bundle

       In fall or other shitty metaphors for depression

       In the light of

       Back to quiet

       In the name of freedom (an election thought)

       & in burn you also

       Election Night

       Poem to America

       Rise

       Survival—three days after election

       Comfort in knowing that mathematically you are not alone in choice of love over hate

       Not my president

       Fallacy Catch-22

       In crawl out of cessation

       In time, brave, brave

       Restroom hug

       What the world offers

       Sores & Dressings: A Post Election Moment of Comfort

       The snowman