“Butterfly Orchids” by Lori McNamara, oil on masonite.

“that restless beast, who, coming
against me, little by little was driving
me back to where the sun is silent”

– Inferno, Canto I

into these grottos
onyx in chaos
impossible lines
contradicting

I have come here
to find a child

across brackish waters
churning still
borne onto the char
inside the crust

I have a child
I’ve come here to find

under antiseptic light
in clothes worn for days
we collapsed into chairs
and the heat of each other
machines bleating
pauses and wails
she came to tell us
our sun went out

I’ve come to find
I have a child
here

Todd Follett lives in Alameda, California and is currently enrolled in the MFA Writing program at the University of San Francisco. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Spoon River Poetry Review, Natural Bridge, DMQ Review, and The Pedestal Magazine.

Read an interview with Todd here.