I’m an author--one that's as likely to write poetry as pornography. And people said I'd never get to use my Bachelor's in English. For me, writing is therapeutic: a complicated form of self-talk. That, more than any other reason, is why I do it full-time. Also, I love you.

Sympathy for the Bees

Leta LaVelle

There were times when I would disappear

to great angst and hullabaloo,

and when I made my miraculous return,

no one noticed.

There were times when I armed myself

to recoup every swat and welt and burn,

but it turned out

I could only sting once.

I have sympathy for the bees

because I have lived a similar life:

collecting sweet-smelling powders

and constructing my cage with geometrical precision,

only to find that my death was everything

and my revival was only as good as my production.

A Tongue-Twister for 2017

Sit