from “When the Heart Needs a Stunt Double”

Palm Reading Detroit

Michigan’s forested hand,

verdant fingertips,

pines on periphery,

Montmorency cherry

cabin and thicket,

walleye, antlers

lighthouse and dune

Traverse City moon

tempers the lake

its glinting shimmer

won’t smooth

this jagged line,

my restless shores.

Pour me a Stroh’s,

I’m heading back

to Detroit, beaux arts

and deco, falcon

and ledge, tunnel

and bridge. Give me

Brown-Bomber Fist,

spoke and hub,

river and strait,

this rhythmic

skyline

read—love,

lifeline, home.