Thrush Poetry Journal
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Dare Williams
​

How to Make a Deer Collapse
 
Start by getting him right where you want him
 
Soothing the soft part of his head
 
Maybe it’s a truck and you are the driver
 
Start by saying you are taking him somewhere
 
A place he’s never heard of
 
Start by making sure whatever is in the rear view will shrink
 
Tell him that an engine idling is love
 
Till him that a slamming door is love
 
Tell him that searching is for fools
 
Tell him there’s no use in praying
 
Tell him to get out of your face
 
Tell him to forget about dreams
 
Tell him anyone who’s anyone has 
 
A mother to say once upon a time
 
A father to say as far as the eye can see
 
So don’t even try to look
 
Then say forget everything you’ve seen here
 
Even the name of this town
 
Then take your foot off the break




​A 2019 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, Dare Williams is a queer HIV-positive poet, artist, activist native to Southern California. Dare’s poetry has been featured in Cultural Weekly and elsewhere. An alum of John Ashbury Home School Claremont, he is currently working on his first poetry collection.




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