Jason Olsen

THE WOMEN OF DAVENPORT, IOWA HAVE RUN OUT OF WAYS TO DESCRIBE PAIN

I know this because when I surfaced
from the water, bearing the face
of every brother, husband, son, father—
every man who ever mattered—
the women of Davenport
stood silent until the river washed
the features of my face to nothing. 

Jason Olsen teaches writing and literature at Utah State University. He has a book of poems, Parakeet, come out from BatCat Press in 2017. He has an academic study of Captain America comics forthcoming from McFarland Books. He has had poems published in Rattle, Mid-American Review, Missouri Review, and Pleiades, among other places.