My Michael (1996-2009) by Heather Cadsby

Poem title: My Michael (1996-2009) Poet name: Heather Cadsby Poem: Clumped loam in snow beside the winter weeds. Brittle brown and broken-backed as no Summer swaying selves, alive with seeds, Expected this, in time, the way to go. I watch you on the dirt bike learning how To stop and start and turn the thing around. A careful boy who half a year from now Is body struck, left dying on the ground. I drink too much. My diet’s full of fat. The noon crow and my phone seem set in sync. I live in woods, our whole life used to that. Consider silence as the missing link. A single mother never anymore. Just single now, still listening by the door. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Heather Cadsby Previously published in The Fiddlehead (Spring, 2014) and in Standing in the Flock of Connections (Brick Books, 2018). Heather Cadsby is the author of five books of poetry. The most recent is titled Standing in the Flock of Connections (Brick Books, 2018).