"My Husband Asks" by Courtney LeBlanc

~ after Todd Dillard

how do you write a poem? and I hand him a stick.

His eyes ask the question. It's a poem, I say and suddenly

the air smells like straw and manure, earth and animal.

My sister and I stand just inside the barn, the raccoon

I nearly touched hissing at us. Even at ten and eight we knew

wild creatures could not be near our farm animals. My sister

and I, scarecrow-thin and dust-covered, ran to find our father.

We expected him to get his gun. We were farm girls,

we understood. Instead, he took the stick from my hands,

the one I'd picked up as I ran to find him. My sister and I

statued at the barn door, unwilling to go further. We could hear

the animal screams, the quieting. I take the stick from my

husband, throw it into the fire. When it pops, I don't flinch.

** inspired by “After a Few Beers, My Uncle Asks Me How” by Todd Dillard

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of four full-length collections, most recently Her Dark Everything. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press, and Poetry Coven, a monthly generative workshop. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Find her online at www.courtneyleblanc.com.