Life can surprise you. You want something with every ounce of blood that flows in your veins, and then one day it’s yours. Right there before you. Everything. You break out in a cold sweat...

Ask me about my childhood, and I will tell you to walk to the edge of the woods with a choir of crickets chirping from every direction, a hot, humid breeze brushing through your hair,...

When his wounds cut too deep for the blues–when he couldn’t sing himself out of his own sorrow–when he was too wounded to shimmy his fingers over piano keys–he came to the healing waters of...

With red clay between my toes,and the sun setting over my head,the ghost of my mother blows in,riding on a honeysuckle breeze, oh lord,riding on a honeysuckle breeze.

Although I wasn’t there to bear witness, I imagine Lot’s wife scanned the masses for her children. Perhaps she sought out the curves of their mouths and the shapes of their faces, trying to memorize...

A song rises up from the belly of my pastand rocks me in the bosom of buried memories.

Are you aware that Jesus Christ can spell? I get so tired of you spelling every slang and cuss word that crosses your mind, as though you are pulling one over on the Lord.

My mama steps out of her dressand drops it, an inheritance falling to my feet.She stands alone: bathed, blooming,burdened with nothing of this world.Her body is naked and beautiful,her wings gray and scorched,her brown eyes...

Kevin knew he had to always outrun the enemy inside him, and if that meant playing football, he’d do it. During puberty, he had taken off running and found too late that he couldn’t stop....

STAINSWith red clay between my toes,and the sun setting over my head,the ghost of my mother blows in,riding on a honeysuckle breeze, oh lord,riding on a honeysuckle breeze.Her teeth, the keys of a piano.I play...

The truth had lacerated him to the bone, had punctured his heart, and had ripped through his soul. The truth had slain him and tended to his wounds. The truth had hated him and loved...

Songs. Books. Poetry. Paintings. These things reveal truth. I believe lies and truth are tangled together.

When a man’s running, he seldom looks back.

My mother’s dress bears the stains of her life:blueberries, blood, bleach, and breast milk;She cradles in her arms a lifetime of love and sorrow;Its brilliance nearly blinds me.