My
Iridescent
Daggers

Beneath the weight of generations, where the Texas soil swallows secrets and blooms with memory, My Iridescent Daggers cuts through the web of ancestry, eavesdrops on a telephone game of tales, reminisces on young love, and grinds itself against the hard palate of loss. In this evocative poetry collection, an 8th-generation Texan reckons with the echoes of the past—both the burdens and the brilliance—while forging a path toward self-understanding. These poems glisten like heirlooms held to the light, sharp with grief, luminous with warmth, and unafraid to pierce the veils of history.

A meditation on inheritance and identity, My Iridescent Daggers is for those who know that the land remembers, that the late whisper, and that the stories we carry are both weapons and wings.

Branded By An Indian Paintbrush

Typed poem titled “Branded by an Indian Paintbrush” by Calista Ashmore, reflecting themes of love, nature, and identity
A five o’clock shadow
scrubbed my face
   I giggled at the sound of threadbare
   and the tickle of love
He always made sure his nuzzling
   never burned and never stung
   a gentle promise of protection
   laced with silver stubble
Each scratch left a pinch of pink
   a gulp of comfort
I am eternally branded by his Indian Paintbrush
   better than a sunset in a child’s palms
   I am attached to his roots
   the reason for my stature
Now he calls me wildflower
   celebrating my fields every spring
   reminiscing the days before
   I faded to carmine