Booked

After she finishes worrying, you ask her

Should we get some more wings, Dad?

Should we knit some floor swings?

It’s gotta make sense, Dad.

Should we quit before Spring?

Well done, Dad.

“Bullies don’t like to fight, son. They like to win. Being afraid is normal. The only fight you really have to win is the one against the fear.”

Tell me, how do you feel about your mother leaving?

I feel like I’m drowning.

And you don’t like being smart?

I don’t like being forced to sound smart.

What happens to a dream destroyed?
Does it sink

like a wrecked ship in the sea?

Or wade in the water

like a boy overboard?

Maybe it just floats

around and around . . .

or does it drown?

Thank you, Mom says, all prim and proper-like. Well, I met his girlfriend—

I’m afraid this is grounds for a family meeting. Meet me in the living room.

Out of the Dust
is a story

about a lanky

piano-playing girl

named Billie Jo

whose mother

is gone,

whose father’s heart

and you’re left

wide awake, thinking of

all your broken pieces.