Hello, friends. I’d like to let you know my poem “This World is Yours” has been published at Hotel by Masticadores. Sincere thanks to Editor Michelle Navajas and her team for sharing this poem with their readers. I’m truly grateful for your kindness, Michelle.

This poem is special to me as it addresses—in extremely abstract form—the dysfunction of domestic abuse and the price a son can pay at the hands of his father. It was named Publication of the Month for January/February 2024 at Spillwords Press and will be in the running for Publication of the Year for 2024.

“This World is Yours”
(c) 2023 by Michael L. Utley

“you thought you could
save the world
wee lad
you couldn’t even
save yourself

those bleak nighthawk skies
where dead stars fall
like blood-bloated flies
and fey winds howl
in deafened ears
a behemoth’s fetid exhalation
violent and ignorant
and inexorable

breathe
breathe it all in
the sweat-soaked fear
the bitter tang of futility
fill your lungs
wee lad
this world is yours
as far as tear-blurred
eyes can see…”

You can read the rest of my poem by clicking this link. Also, please consider following and subscribing to Hotel by Masticadores, where you’ll discover a world of wonderfully imaginative and profound writing.