H.T. Reynolds
a poem by
IN THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER
Before I knew how to create a meal
from a hot stove, I knew how to treat
blistered skin, how to hold a wilting mother
within my lap, dislodge her encrusted hair
from her clotted wounds
—how to purr
from the throat
—calm her eyes closed
without them flinching
Before I knew how to trust a door
lock, I knew how it becomes
a microphone, a loudspeaker
vibrating my spine like a centipede
uncoiling like God
toward a green couch
a pasture
a shepherd
a father’s scorching smile
H.T.
Reynolds
(he/him)
H.T. Reynolds is a teacher and father whose work has appeared in Moonstone Arts Center, The Rising Phoenix Review, Rust & Moth, and his poetry collection, Chatter in the Skull. He holds an M.A. and M.F.A. from Wilkes University, where he was awarded the Beverly Blakeslee Hiscox '58 Scholarship. https://htreynolds.com/