Illicit
First she heard the clatter / of his boots on the porch …
Little Bird
The hottest month of the hottest year
on record. August in Texas. Unrelenting.
Mother had died just the month before.
My mother. The world kept burning.
Funeral
You’re a carefree, bouncy kid
who still enjoys the little things like
the sticky summer season every year
and riding horses and fishing
at the old docks past sunset.
Watering the Trees
Seeing the neighbor watering his pear tree,
I see my father watering the mulberry trees
in our yard.
Fighting the Wind
Image: “Here I Go” by Elizabeth Hlookoff. “Fighting the Wind” was written by Teresa Breeden for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2023, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.