Join The Dillydoun Review in celebrating National Poetry Month with

A Poem by David Rogers

I appeared on Lakeshore Michigan naked and pure
Borne on a golden palanquin by an obedient horde
Of zebra mussels, mumbling their hymn of praise.

Found by South Side maenads, dancing at night in
Empty lots of junk, my slight ethereal size seized them
To rush me to the hospital, ravaged by pre-birth reaving.

Cosseted solo in warm plastic, single blanket, I survived.

Earlier in the world, my mother drank and smoked in secret,
Unsure of this thing growing inside, what responsibilities
Lay on her now, whether it was what she wanted
at all.

First published with a second place in the 2017 Heroes’ Voices National Veterans Poetry Contest, David Rogers has also placed poems in Metonym Literary Journal and Voices de la Luna. A memoir of his time in the anti-war movement while being active duty in the military, “Peaceful Meridian: Sailing Into War, Protesting At Home,” was published in 2020. He lives outside Denver, Colorado.