ABOUT
ABOUT
Chancellor Florida State Poets Association
Florida Poet Laureate Volusia County
Winner of 2011 American Poet Prize
2008 Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award - Special Merit
The Rescue
People use the word 'closure.' It's not about closure, it's more about justice.
― John Walsh, father to Adam Walsh.
Today in the news: Miraculous Rescue
An uncle drags a shark to shore
to save his near-dead nephew.
A bull of a shark, the arm that it tore
from the boy when he waved for help
fueled the beast's palate; its tail
in the uncle's grip, a blur of blood claret and kelp;
the husks from his palms, a grim and edible kale.
I want a shark that I can wrestle
and make it spit you out. To make it yearn
for its strength, to thrash about as I nestle
its nose in my grip. I want to turn
you loose from a palpable place: a well, a shed, a jaw.
I want the monster to face me and beg for the law.