A thousand thanks to the editors and staff of the following publications which have housed these works:
Uncanny Magazine:
“Birth, Place”
“the one”
“time, and time again”
“drop some amens”
Arsenika:
“the lagahoo speaks for itself”
“The Metaphysics of a Wine, in Theory and Practice”
Sunvault:
“The Sailor-Boys”
Thank you to my family, especially my mother, Sandra, whose support of my work has refused to waver.
Thank you to my local poetry family, especially Deneka Thomas, Shivanee Ramlochan, Derron Sandy, and Arielle John, whose constant striving and dedication to outreach through the word has motivated me on more than one occasion.
Thank you to Karen Lord, without whose mentorship I may not have even sold my first speculative anything. Your guidance and thoughtfulness is a constant inspiration.
Thank you to my speculative poetry family, especially Fran Wilde, who has cast her magical eye on many of the pieces in this collection. Thanks again to Fran, and to Sara Norja, Karolina Fedyk, C.S.E. Cooney, Cassandra Khaw, S. Qiouyi Lu, R.B. Lemberg, Bogi Takács, Ali Trotta, Hester J. Rook, and so many others, whose friendship, conversation, and verse have been overwhelmingly encouraging.
Thank you to Holly Lyn Walrath and Saba Syed Razvi for selecting this collection, and again to Holly for being a strong poetic inspiration even before this selection. Thank you to proofreaders Sydney Richardson and Elliot Brooks for their diligent attention to making these poems the best they can be.
Thank you, reader—not only for reading this, but for diving into the starlight pool of verse at all. Thank you for resting your eyes here.