"Practice"

Slaughter the One Bird, my first full length collection, debuts with Sundress Publications this summer. This book examines the lifelong effects of harm done by childhood sexual assault against the back drop of a Midwestern landscape and Judeo-Christianity. Depicting a woman raising two children while entrapped by a violent spouse, Slaughter draws attention to the psychological complexities of trauma, defusing simplistic arguments concerning survival in situations of powerlessness.

"Priest is a poet I cannot stop reading," says Kelli Russell Agodon (author of Dialogues with Rising Tides), "her skillfulness with language, imagery, form, and story pulled this reader in, leaving me breathless with each and every poem . . . . These are powerful, courageous poems that are needed in the world—they give voice to the voiceless and they make space for the vulnerable, ultimately showing us the strength to make it through."

Pre-order information for Slaughter coming soon. For now, Here's my second video teaser, "Practice."