Like a Totem
A while back, Fevers of the Mind published two of my poems. One was “San Diego” from the inaugural issue of Sledgehammer Lit and my chapbook, Abandoned Accounts. The other was a new one called “Like a Totem” that I wanted to share with you here:
A distant point of lightFilling your hopeless quotaWith memories you had forgottenAnd habits you didn’t know you had.A search party for a souvenir;A gang from a faraway street Running you in from outside,Your wheels wound with worry.A room so quiet you could hear the walls itch;A song stuck in your head like mud;A girl staring at you with eyes so darkThey could swallow you whole.Startled by your arrival,She hides her idols in a dollhouse,A rival altar in miniatureInside a room next to the room.You knew you wouldn’t wake upBefore all your ghosts had gathered On the corner of your quiltGripped tight like a totem.
Cover art by me and my Sharpie.Abandoned Accounts includes a bunch of silly memories I started writing down in poem form, reflections of walks in the woods at my parents’ house in the hinterlands of southeast Alabama, encounters with favorite bands and somewhat famous people, tales of travel and intrigue, and a few stray poems from as far back as 1990.
Here’s an interview with me about the book upon its one-year anniversary with fellow poet, the brutally beautiful, HLR.
And here’s a taste: the great Scott Cumming reading “Virga” from Abandoned Accounts:
It’s a fun little book of verse. Get a pretty blue paperback for $7.99 or the Kindle version for only $3.99!
As always, thank you for reading,
-royc.
