JUKE
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JOINT
Lilacs
Heavy purple heads hang
in bushes lining the sidewalk.
I walk my dog past them every
day and stop to bury
my nose in them.
When our house burnt down
the lilacs that stretched the length
of the house were singed, petals
curling back on themselves, a blizzard
of pale ash and scorched flowers.
Every spring when they bloom
I pick them, put sprigs throughout
my house. The memory
of smoke lingers
in each room.
"Row; Charles River, Boston, MA" - J. Finley
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) & The Violence Within (Flutter Press) & is an MFA candidate at Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Public Pool, Rising Phoenix Review, The Legendary, Germ Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brain Mill Press, Haunted Waters Press, & others. She loves nail polish, wine, & tattoos. Read her blog, follow her on twitter: @wordperv, or find her on Facebook.