Cedric L Tillman
WebsiteYears: 2008, 2009, 2011
Biography
Cedric Tillman hails from Anson County, NC and was raised in Charlotte. He is a graduate of UNCC and The American University’s Creative Writing MFA program. In 2011, his manuscript, entitled Human Events, was a finalist for Flying Trout Press’ annual chapbook contest; a book-length collection, entitled A Lily in the Valley, was a semifinalist for the 42 Miles Press/University of Indiana-South Bend Poetry Award. A Cave Canem fellow, Cedric’s poems appear in several publications including Crosscut, Folio, Kakalak 2009, The Chemistry of Color, Cave Canem Anthology XII: Poems 2008‐2009 and Home Is Where: An Anthology of African American Poets From the Carolinas, edited by Kwame Dawes. In 2013 his debut collection, entitled Lilies In The Valley, was published by Willow Books. He lives in Charlotte with his family.
Poem
the imprints
I don’t really mind you
you burden me different
you walk like you think you could hurt something
your toenails still have the night before’s
glitter on them, so pretty
early in the morning,
while people write postcards
and choiring birds wake up
earth’s angels and devils,
your languid, brooding massage
soothes me before the pummeling.
I don’t know, maybe you have wider spaces
between your toes,
but there is so much more of me
clinging to your feet
by the time you get to the chairs