UP WHEN IT’S MY BIRTHDAY
3 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC WITH MOTHS AND RIVER
4 RIMROCK
5 PRAYER
6 BESIDES, LITTLE GOAT, YOU CAN’T JUST GO ASKING FOR MERCY
7 THIRSTINESS IS NOT EQUAL DIVISION
8 LONG PIG
9 BEING IN THIS WORLD MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A TIME TRAVELER
11 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC WITH RELAPSE FANTASY
12 ORCHIDS ARE SPROUTING FROM THE FLOORBOARDS
14 AGAINST HELL
15 PALMYRA
16 UNBURNABLE THE COLD IS FLOODING OUR LIVES
17 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC FROZEN IN BLOCK OF ICE
19 EVERYTHING THAT MOVES IS ALIVE AND A THREAT—A REMINDER
20 WHAT USE IS KNOWING ANYTHING IF NO ONE IS AROUND
1 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC FLOATING IN SPACE WITH SEVERED UMBILICUS
3 THE STRAW IS TOO LONG, THE AXE IS TOO DULL
4 MY KINGDOM FOR A MURMUR OF FANFARE
5 EVERY DRUNK WANTS TO DIE SOBER IT’S HOW WE BEAT THE GAME
7 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC WITH CRAVING
8 FUGU
10 GOD
11 DESPITE THEIR SIZE CHILDREN ARE EASY TO REMEMBER THEY WATCH YOU
13 PERSONAL INVENTORY: FEARLESS (TEMPORIS FILA)
14 SO OFTEN THE BODY BECOMES A DISTRACTION
15 I WON’T LIE THIS PLAGUE OF GRATITUDE
16 PORTRAIT OF THE ALCOHOLIC STRANDED ALONE ON A DESERT ISLAND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A great debt of gratitude is owed to the editors of the following publications where these poems first appeared, often in earlier versions:
The Adroit Journal: “Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient)”
AGNI: “God”
American Poetry Review: “Being in This World Makes Me Feel Like a Time Traveler,” “Best Shadows,” “Exciting the Canvas”
At Length: “Drinkaware Self-Report”
Bennington Review: “Wild Pear Tree,” “Desunt Nonnulla,”
Black Warrior Review: “I Won’t Lie This Plague of Gratitude”
BOAAT: “Neither Now nor Never”
Boston Review: “Portrait of the Alcoholic with Craving”
Copper Nickel: “Portrait of the Alcoholic with Doubt and Kingfisher”
Denver
