Instructions Before Stuttering
Tread where the name has prepared 
A full name full of desire 
Clay like plenty 
Love is sensitive 
In the space of crying 
The name goes ahead 
To prepare you 
Grasp the vessel 
With both hands and 
Walk slow 
A road of red clover 
Opens— 
Copyright © 2023 by JJJJJerome Ellis. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 6, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.
