Alesha Dawson

To my nephew as we walk in the woods

 

I could tell you 

to be like the cicada:

both singular and innumerable--

a voice that rises as the night darkens.

 

Or I could tell you

to be like the ant:

who, underneath the bellowing trees, 

speaks with fire, instead of song.  

 

But I will never tell you

to be the kind of man who walks

through a screaming forest

and only ever hears

the sound of his own pain. 

Alesha Dawson prefers chilly weather and hot tea and is arguably a better writer when both of those are involved. She holds English degrees from the University of Montevallo and the University of Edinburgh. Currently, she is happily settled in Birmingham, Alabama where she teaches high school English and lives with her partner and three cats. Alesha is the founding editor of Screen Door Review.