"The First Poem in Your Favorite Poet, a Collection of Poetry Written by Leigh Chadwick and Published by Malarkey Books in July of 2022" by Leigh Chadwick
The road to heaven is lined with bullet casings and leftover pieces of children too slow to duck. The air smells like thoughts and prayers. Above the road lined with bullet casings but below heaven, the sky has the sniffles. The birds sneeze. The clouds cough. I fill a Super Soaker with NyQuil and point it at the sky. Someone sticks an exclamation mark between each of my ribs. I don’t know why. I don’t ask. Instead, I count to ten thoughts and prayers and wonder who is caring for the pipe bombs hiding in the boy’s garage. I worry for every unlocked door. I close my eyes. I don’t have to wait for the flash.
Leigh Chadwick is the author of the poetry collection Your Favorite Poet (Malarkey Books, 2022) and the collaborative poetry collection Too Much Tongue (Autofocus, 2022), co-written with Adrienne Marie Barrios. Her poetry has appeared in Salamander, Passages North, Hobart, The Indianapolis Review, and Hobart, among others. She is a regular contributor at Olney Magazine, where she conducts the "Mediocre Conversations" interview series. Find her on Twitter at @LeighChadwick5.
