everyone’s teeth are broken but

people keep chewing rocks.

everyone’s stomachs are empty but

people keep drinking gasoline.

Boy in a Closed Mill Town by Zackary Lavoie

Rural Maine was once a hotbed for Mill Towns. Entire communities were built around mills, offering a promise of wealth and stability. Unfortunately, most of these mills were eventually closed and torn down, leaving the towns once centred around them helpless. Many families felt the destructive impact of the closings. Poverty, drug addiction, depression, and many, many other difficult scenarios soon followed. This poem explores the impact on the relationship between a father and son in a closed mill town.

Zack Lavoie graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington and is the author of the chapbook UPHEAVALS (Pond Bench Press). He was awarded the 2017 Alice James Books Director's Chair Fellowship in Farmington, Maine and is the winner of the Franklin & Somerset County Poetry Competition.  works as an EFL editor for a global trading platform and as a copy editor locally. His work can be found in Empty Mirror Magazine, OCCULUM Journal, Dirty Paws Poetry Review, Longleaf Review, FlyPaper Mag, OXIDANT | ENGINE, and on the 'Memoria' podcast.                    

UPHEAVALS can be purchased directly through his website or on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

You can find Zack on his website,  Twitter, and Instagram.  

Acknowledgements:

Memoria is written, produced, edited and presented by Nat V.

Zackary Lavoie's short poem, Boy in a Closed Mill Town, is written and read by Zack. The podcast story is edited by Jen Farrow.

Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions,   "Sage the Hunter" and "Wax Paper Jewel".

Illustrations by Peta Manning. Her book, See Me Doodle, is out now.