Mother died ages ago. Her heart killed her.

She’d always say to me, “Better you cry now than I cry later.” Sometimes she’d hit with her hand, other times with a hairbrush.

I remember her saying, “Life is what you make it.” Now it’s a boat! Or a flower pot.

Howie Good is the recipient of the 2015 Press Americana Prize for Poetry for his latest collection, Dangerous Acts Starring Unstable Elements.