The man seemed to be crying out all that was inside him, filling up the sea. I could see his face in the sound of the waves. (2022 Pushcart Nominee)

Waves

The threads clustered like coagulated blood, and I wished they were, that she was unraveling herself for me here on the floor, leaving me little bloody bits.

Unraveling

I felt so light, buoyed in the wake of her laugh. That laugh lifted me out of my body, brought me to a place where I could see the broad wave of my life with amazing clarity, and in that space a memory surfaced, breaching consciousness like a whale.

Blue Boy

I laid down beside him to touch the spongy soil. It smelled moist and clean, like life in all its stages. A worm breached the surface and vanished again. I had, in a flash, a desire to follow it.

Loam

People say the volcano is either a mother or a monster. The city seems split along this line, though all agree She is a woman.

Rachel Lloyd

Selected work