~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Steven Searcy

Approaching Eighteen

A murder rises from the freshly man-

icured Bermuda grass. The crows look down

from pines that line the course behind the C-

VS. A father castigates his son

for stubborn defects in his swing, a frown

that chips away at bonds that ought to be

a gentle hammock, turned into a net

that cuts and strangles. Step by step, a wedge

is chosen—now there’s no return, no par-

don. Strokes are counted. Unwashed stains will set.

The child becomes a man who’ll only pledge

estrangement. Now no drive could be too far.

Steven Searcy is the author of Below the Brightness (Solum Press, 2024). His poems have appeared in Southern Poetry Review, Commonweal, Blue Unicorn, Atlanta Review, and elsewhere. He grew up in Alabama and currently lives with his wife and four sons in Georgia.