Tiger King

Is anyone else watching this series because oh my gosh, it’s craaaaaazy. Just when I think “that’s gotta be it” it takes another left turn. How on earth does it just get more insane?

Shift of Focus

I’m going to be adding my artwork to this blog in addition to my poetry. I’ve been pulling myself out of a depression over the past year, along with finishing up undergrad and starting grad school, so my writing has been slower to come out. The poem I posted today was the first thing in months that I actually felt good enough to publish.

The whole point of this blog for me was to just share my creative efforts, and I figure since I seem to be expanding that into more areas, I’d go ahead and share. All of you that follow are here for the poems, but I wanted to give a heads up in case you don’t want to see artwork.

I post a lot more of my WIP and finalized stuff on my instagram, @almillercreative , so if you are interested in that versus more of a rambling type thing alongside the paintings, feel free to follow over there!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the additions. I’ll keep posting poems as I go and I’m working on another chapbook currently, but no ETA or firm timelines on that one because I can’t handle that bandwidth.

Thanks everyone for your support, likes, etc – it means a lot to me, and I’m so grateful for your time as I’ve been silent for most of this year.

Truth Becomes Her

At what age did I decide
the man in the moon was
Shadows and craters or
Dandelions only make allergies
And not wishes?
Or that I would make it
across the bridge
Past the cemetery
Regardless if my breath held or not?
What age defying lotion
Or retinol youth serum can I use
To remove the dark spots and
wrinkles of reality
So I can point up to the sky
And whisper in my daughters ear
About green cheese and
Moon rabbits and
Silver dollars and
Be able to swear it’s all true?
      • A.M. (2018)

nevertheless she persisted

every time he would hit me
push me down stairs
kick me
hold a gun to my head
break my phone
bite me on the back
throw all the food away
take my furniture
sell my car, clothes, cds, shoes
burn me
cut me
leave me in a ball on a gurney
he would always tell me
I was warned.

“She was warned”
he would say to his friends
as they laughed about my new
bruises
scabs
limp
now I know the rest of that sentence
“Nevertheless she persisted”

Next time let’s not get talking points
from Abuser Guidebook 101