Sunday, January 8, 2012

Closing Shop

Hello friends and readers!

I'm closing my blog until April. I'm submitting a portfolio of work to a contest that requires all poems be "previously unpublished." I won't be able to post any of my final drafts until after the contest winners are announced.

January will be a month of classes, writing, revising, editing, revising again, etc.

The poem below felt like an appropriate farewell. Thank you to everyone who has clicked on a link to this blog through Twitter, rbannal's blog, or by searching what to do in the event that they're forgotten their blog's url (I'm guessing that's at least 2% of my hits). Happy 2012!

The Last Thing You Taste



Soak and sink your teeth in gin,

in August memories, in sweat

and cravings, hot thighs,

and strawberry jam. Run your

tongue along each tooth,

every crescent of gum.


Learn sweet and salty flavor

because the last thing you taste

will be the bite of turpentine

and ghost peppers.