No Shame in Regression, 2018.
“existence in repentance”
father, look upon us and forgive us for our sins
save your daughters from damnation and show us to light
eyes closed, prayers on lips, hands together, repentance
mother always sheds a tear when she listens
to the story of Christ, bearing our evils, crucified
father, look upon us and forgive us for our sins
boys kissing boys unbeknownst to righteous parents
dirty dreams lead to heartache like a clumsy love bite
eyes closed, prayers on lips, hands together, repentance
letting go of prayers for kisses on lips, on hidden skin
places mother won’t see when she bids goodnight
father, look upon us and forgive us for our sins
trying to drown out prayers with lemon and gin
but you can’t tune out the voices in your mind
eyes closed, prayers on lips, hands together, repentance
sleeping in motel bathrooms, throwing up in garbage bins
you can’t repent when your existence is a vice, but you try
father, look upon us and forgive us for our sins
eyes closed, prayers on lips, hands together, repentance
No Shame in Regression is a collection of poetry portraying the intimacy between a speaker and select others, and the poems flow from depictions of light and simple love to darker feelings associated with love. The choice to avoid capitalization, even for a pronoun like “I,” was to convey that no subject in any of the poems was more important than the other. The collection consists of both freestyle poems and poems written in form.