Dodo Eraser

mother throws herself
into the river

drags across the current
like a buoy

blood advances into a weird love story
with the water

—mother
grows daisies

on the bank
where she washed up

after a dreadful
swim

---

john compton (b. 1987), author of 18 books/chapbooks, is a gay poet/writer who lives in kentucky with his husband josh and their dogs and cats, and mice. his latest full length book is “my husband holds my hand because i may drift away & be lost forever in the vortex of a crowded store” published with Flowersong Press (dec 2024); his forthcoming full length book “house as a cemetery” will be published with Rebel Satori Press (march 2026). you can find his books, some poems and other things here: https://linktr.ee/poetjohncompton