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Dialogues with Rising Tides
KELLI RUSSELL AGODON
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Thank you. We hope you enjoy these poems.
This e-book edition was created through a special grant provided by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
For my mum, Gloria Russell-Baker,my light in every storm
You have come to the shore.
There are no instructions.
Denise Levertov
Contents
Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror
I Don’t Own Anxiety, but I Borrow It Regularly
Whiskey-Sour-of-the-Nipple Story
Everyone Is Acting as If We’re Not Temporary, and I Am Falling Apart in the Privacy of My Own Home
When my therapist tells me my father’s trauma has been transferred to me, I think
At Times My Body Leans toward Loss
At a Cocktail Party, I Am Given a Drink Called Life Is Fleeting and the Olive Is Short-Lived
One Day I’d Like to Live in a World without Alarm Clocks
After Discovering My Husband Bought a Handgun
When Someone Dies, the Sky Whispers Never Fall in Love
Till Death Shatters the Fabulous Stars
Perhaps If We Understood Desire
To Help with Climate Change, We Buy Rechargeable Sex Toys
The Sun Doesn’t Know It’s a Star
At the End, We Mistook Savor for Savior
Getting an IUD on the Day of 45’s Inauguration