The picture is one I took of Downtown Boston. The name is an ugly plant with spikes that blooms startling red flowers that has been used in perfumes for years. It is also referenced in a favourite poem of mine, The Lotus Eaters by Tenneyson, and in mythology throughout history. I am pairing my relatively new life in New York and my old life - history, as you might say - as a writer from Texas in this new collection of poems. I hope you enjoy it.