How did you learn
to love like that?
What else can a boy do
in a house always drowning?
My family forgets not
teaching me to love—
clinging to boys,
survival,
holding onto them
like inner tubes.
I am intimately aware
love here is debris
on an ocean floor.
A fish carcass,
remains of a family
spent too much time drowning
to know
anything else.
Mason Nunemaker is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota where he earned a B.A. in English with a focus in poetry writing. As an undergraduate he competed in and organized several poetry slams on campus and across the Twin Cities. He has been a featured performer at several slams and open mics in the area and represented the University of Minnesota twice at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI). Previous publications include: a spoken word piece on the Indiefeed Performance Poetry Podcast and a written piece in Ivory Tower Arts & Literary Magazine.
A Quiet Courage 