It’s come to my attention that some of my published poems are out of print—or maybe “no longer published,” is what I mean, since they were originally online. Print is print; pixels may mysteriously vanish.

Some of the poems I’m thinking of live in archives that are in the process of being redesigned. Meanwhile, links to my published work have stopped linking. So for a few days, I’ll be re-posting, re-publishing, re-establishing a home for some old favorites. Here’s the first:

Role Model

Imagine I said I wish to live as a bank of Nootka roses.

Catching breaths equally 
with my thicket of thin curved daggers, 
my swooning scent.

Showing off my hips in winter,
round or wrinkled, sun-cupped, bitter. Exactly 
what you need. 

Sinking my feet strong 
in salty marshes, limbering my skin
to ocean's whisper.

Imagine I am planted here, beautiful, and sharpening my knives. 

Role Model was originally published in a lovely local lit journal that has since closed its doors, Cascadia Rising Review. Continued thanks to the great team at CRR for several poems homed, conversation enjoyed, and my first public reading last year.