First Elegy, For Maureen

First Elegy, For Maureen Dustin Brookshire (bio) I stand in the Atlantic Oceanwatching the waves washover my silver toenails. The last time we spokeyou said, My bodyis in Denver,but my heartis in Miami. I'm in Miamiwriting in the lobbyof The Betsy when I hearthat you left us.Grief swallows me—a child lost in a king tide.I hear your voicefrom twenty years agoafter the open micat Java Monkey Speaks.Hell of a poem, kid.Keep writing, you saidas you signed my copyof Furious Cooking. It's been years sincesomeone I loved died.I'm swimmingthrough these wavesof grief.Your poems,your books,memories of you, End Page 191 a buoy keeping me afloatuntil I land on shore again. End Page 192 Dustin Brookshire Dustin Brookshire (he/him) is the recipient of the 2024 Jon Tribble Editors Fellowship awarded by Poetry at the Sea and the author of the chapbooks Never Picked First For Playtime (Harbor Editions, 2023), Love Most Of You Too (Harbor Editions, 2021), and To The One Who Raped Me (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2012). He's the co-editor of Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville Publishing, 2023), which was named on the 2024 "Books All Georgians Should Read" list by the Georgia Center for the Book. Visit him at dustinbrookshire.com. Copyright © 2024 Pleiades and Pleiades Press