New poem "Roosters and Hens" in Limp Wrist

I'm taking a bit of a social media hiatus now that the election is over and my plate is full with hunting for a condo and working on the new and selected poetry collection due out in 2023. That means I neglected to mention that I have a brand new poem called "Roosters and Hens" in Limp Wrist's special Dolly Parton 75th birthday tribute issue. You can read my poem at this link, but be sure to read the brilliant work selected by Dustin Brookshire and Julie E. Bloemeke for the issue.

I've been a Dolly fan since I was little kid and I've had the great pleasure of seeing her in concert a couple of times. She's always been a touchstone, so I'm tickled that I now have a poem to honor that. 

The poem almost didn't happen. I wrote a much longer draft before Christmas and couldn't figure out how to cut it. I even wrote an entirely different poem about an entirely different person (Mary Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life – hopefully it will have a home soon, too!) to try and clear the cobwebs, since my output in 2020 was practically nil. 

While I was on a socially-distanced getaway after Christmas, I sat in my little motel room in Mountain City, Tennessee and finished the poem an hour before the deadline. Whew!