I.
Sweet sorghum on a lover’s tongue
Fresh briar marks on her thighs
Black beetles cased in cedar sap
with new-hatched dragonflies
II.
A knife wound stanched with masking tape
A bin of cottonseed
One boy’s fist on another’s jaw
Bone shards in chicken feed
III.
What thoroughness What cleanliness
An altar glazed with wax
Deer trails through the dark pine woods
Abandoned railroad tracks
IV.
On crumpled onionskin the words
of Christ like sunburn scars
Liquor drawn from sweet corn mash
The black between the stars
"Drawl" was originally published in Iron Horse Literary Review, vol. 14, no. 2.