Qui tacet consentire videtur. Silence gives consent.Veritas odium parit. Truth creates hatred.
Willow flower
You know how you can know some thingsbut forget you know until it’s time to remember.Mom met her third husband Billy whenshe was a teacher helping convicts get their GEDs,and he was incarcerated at that prison.When he was paroled, they wed in the backyardwith the petunias. Plighted their troth,as they said, while I sang a song, lyricsfrom the Song of Solomon. A garden inclosedis my sister, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.And then Mom brought this Billy personinto the house with my actual sister, who at fourteenwas skinny as a willow in flower.Eight years older, I was far away, gone, useless,just the three of them in that house.Billy had looks and strength, a crewcut and a drawl.And…
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The American Poetry Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, May/June 2024