I see fire…

I’ve been missing in action for so long because I couldn’t bring myself to blog after another innocent Black man’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. I’m working on a poem based on this crime that keeps happening over and over again. I’ll be adding it to my group of “Apocalypse Minneapolis” poetry about these years of fire, plague and wrath that I’ve been submitting to journals. I’m also working on a trio of poems related to environmental justice, racism and classism to submit to a local contest for creative writing on that topic.

Meanwhile, here’s a picture of me holding my contributor’s copy of Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, Vol. 6. Like everything else, my receipt of this book was late due to supply chain issues suffered by the editor and publisher. I have to thank Sinclair Sexsmith again for including my story in this anthology; it’s a high point in my writing career.

I keep running in the ground a cover version of Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug by German metal band Feuerschwanz, playing it to death on YouTube, my smartphone and my car stereo. Look up the lyrics of this song, and you’ll see where my head is these days with my fears for the city I’ve called home for over two decades and my people who are trying to survive this smoldering place and time.