Jessica Barksdale

The Only Ones

Poems About Parents

I failed at wisdom, nurture, / nature, separation, and calm. / I excelled at role model, if what / you wanted was wretched.

— from “Old Mom,” by Jessica Barksdale

What my father didn’t know when he drove / ten-year-old me in the bed of his pickup truck / to gun shows & shooting ranges, initiating me / into the art of the hunt, was that he was actually / teaching me how to write poems

— from “Portrait Of The Poet As A Child,” by Elizabeth Knapp

In my memories my godfather towers / over me, his deep baritone thundering / above us as we sing hymns during Sunday / service.

— from “Small,” by Courtney LeBlanc

My brother calls to say he’ll meet us / for lunch in a few hours, not to wait for him / if he’s late. He’s got to pick up Mom. / And though the crematorium / is near our hotel, he’ll take her ashes home / first.

— from “Waiting In Cars,” by Jackleen Holton