Kathleen
Florence
Kathleen Florence is a poet whose artistic practice spans screen, stage, and page. Her work has been featured in journals and anthologies, including L.A.'s Cultural Daily and Paris Lit Up, and has been supported by grants from the Ontario and Canada Arts Councils. An accomplished performer, she has shared her work at venues like Poets House in NYC and Beyond Baroque in L.A. Prayers With a Side of Cash, her debut poetry collection, will be released this fall by Moon Tide Press.
Kathleen Florence is a poet whose artistic practice spans screen, stage, and page. Her work has been featured in journals and anthologies, including L.A.'s Cultural Daily and Paris Lit Up, and has been supported by grants from the Ontario and Canada Arts Councils. An accomplished performer, she has shared her work at venues like Poets House in NYC and Beyond Baroque in L.A. Prayers With a Side of Cash, her debut poetry collection, will be released this fall by Moon Tide Press.
There
Are Other Routes Than 66
Because Jack coulda been Jackie,
if tables had been laid differently,
with stories dished to suit
pinker tongues – this songbook of recipes
rides shotgun. Penned by grandmothers
who rode stormy ocean waves,
into beginnings unknown, as if they knew
this life is for going places,
should you want to make it home.
I'm steering my ship with sound.
I've Been Everywhere is loud
for ancestors riding
with me through veins pumping
red – bound to turn purple, burst
into flowers, push through unseen spaces
along paved roads. Smile
through cracked-tooth ditches,
even as they are called mere weeds.
As my song list flips from Cash
to Breeders to Alabama Shakes,
I remember names, taught
to me by those with hands in the ground.
Names like Cornflower, Balm Bee,
and my favorite: Dame Rocket.
Yeah, Jack, that's me.
Because Jack coulda been Jackie,
if tables had been laid differently,
with stories dished to suit
pinker tongues – this songbook of recipes
rides shotgun. Penned by grandmothers
who rode stormy ocean waves,
into beginnings unknown, as if they knew
this life is for going places,
should you want to make it home.
I'm steering my ship with sound.
I've Been Everywhere is loud
for ancestors riding
with me through veins pumping
red – bound to turn purple, burst
into flowers, push through unseen spaces
along paved roads. Smile
through cracked-tooth ditches,
even as they are called mere weeds.
As my song list flips from Cash
to Breeders to Alabama Shakes,
I remember names, taught
to me by those with hands in the ground.
Names like Cornflower, Balm Bee,
and my favorite: Dame Rocket.
Yeah, Jack, that's me.
© 2025 Kathleen Florence
Kathleen Florence was a Featured Poet at the September 2025 Second Sunday Poetry Series
Kathleen Florence was a Featured Poet at the September 2025 Second Sunday Poetry Series