THINGS MOMS SAY

My Mom said once, when the clouds parted
her Mother pointed to the sky and said, there –
that’s just enough blue to sew a kitten a pair of pants.

Then my Mom said, she once watched her Mother
leave in a cab, her and her younger sisters left behind,
knowing she would not be coming back.

And my Mom said, that 
is when she learned to sew.

David Atwood is a native New Orleanian, poet, and voice actor living in Alexandria, LA with his wife, writer Christee Gabour Atwood. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from LSU and has worked in radio in Baton Rouge, Atlanta and currently in Alexandria. His first chapbook of poetry, Find Your Way Home, was released in 2010, his second, Catfish Bones and Cajun Ghosts in 2016, and Instamatic in 2022. Atwood has also been published in The Louisiana Review, The Raven Review, Delta Poetry Review, Louisiana Literature, The Aquila Review, Belle Journal and Verbatim.