August 15th

August 15th is a collection of 15 poems written in soft remembrance of a woman who taught me the power of both sanctuary and silence—light & shadows. She was my safe place, my saint, and she is the quiet heartbeat of every poem in this book. She passed on August 15th, a date that split many lives into before & after. But, before she died, she made me a promiseand asked me to make one too. This book is the keeping of both.

This collection holds moments I've never spoken aloud, family secrets,...