Issue 21
Fall 2019
Inclusion
Larry D. Thacker
Do they feel you hinting around
as they gather up for photos.
At the wedding reception.
The family reunion. After cleaning
the graves on Memorial Day.
Where do you like to sneak in
and hover close, among linked arms
and held hands. At birthdays.
Graduations. Deathbeds.
Do you have a preferred scent
we might find familiar,
pleasing. Off-putting.
Would we surely know
without knowing
as you brushed our neck
when the flash goes off,
in our temporary blindness.
Is this why our eyes are closed
when everyone else
in the frame seems fine.
About the Author
Larry D. Thacker is a Kentuckian writer, artist, and educator hailing from Johnson City, TN. He lives with his wife, Karin, and their cat, Abraham Lincoln. His poetry is in over 150 publications including Spillway, Still: The Journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Poetry South, The Southern Poetry Anthology, The American Journal of Poetry, The Lake, Illuminations Literary Magazine, and Appalachian Heritage. His books include three full poetry collections, Drifting in Awe, Grave Robber Confessional, and Feasts of Evasion, two chapbooks, Voice Hunting and Memory Train, as well as the folk history, Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia. His MFA in poetry and fiction is earned from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Visit his website at: www.larrydthacker.com.