Ang E. Miller
Genetics
My mother became sick and I watched
my poetry scatter. Fragmented phrases
turned up in my dreams but seemed
muted in sunshine. Maybe I fed some words
to Mom hopeful she would use them to
pad her protruding bones. I store sentences in her
like heredity. Someday they will boomerang
out of her back to me. So many lines
shaded in grief. Mourning in these
poems what one day will be my fate.
Bio
Ang E. Miller is a high school English teacher who is described as a builder of unapologetic, transformative sanctuaries for youth. Rooted in Chicago's northwest suburbs, she has carved out many safe spaces, particularly for queer voices and bodies to be themselves. Beyond teaching, she is the advisor for the Animation Club, the Gender-and-Sexualities Alliance, the Literary Arts Magazine, and the Creative Writing Club in her school; a coach for her district's Slam Poetry Team; and the Director of the Youth Poet Laureate Program for the Fox River Valley. She serves on numerous committees, including her district's Equity and Inclusion council. Her most recent accolades include a Slam Poetry partnership with Children's Theatre of Elgin in 2020 and the Most Outstanding Cooperating Teacher Award from Northern Illinois University in 2022. When she's not working or writing, she spends her time lecturing her dog for eating the yarn she's crocheting with.