Bốn mươi lăm

Twist the hand throttle,
and Hoi An blurs.
Redlights like paper lanterns
through rain-streaked glasses.
A pair of snowy egrets glides
over a rice field, then two girls flutter
in ao dai, the long white dress.
I finally found the world.
Rain stings my face.

Noctis Terrores–Latin for night terrors–is the first collection from a working poet who has taught for Duke University, the University of Tennessee, and Florida Gulf Coast University.

Blending persona and prose poems, nature and surrealism, gratitude and healthy dose of regret, Cavitt reports back from a world where, as he writes in Petroglyphs, “there is not enough time to love this Earth.”

Noctis Terrores carries us around the world, from Cavitt’s childhood Appalachians to the streets of Vietnam, the canyon Southwest, and the cultural and ecological oddities of his adopted Florida home.

Leaving Da Lat

Pine trees. A granite cliff. The taxi stinks
of smoke both old and new. Banana leaves
fan the sunlight, then shadows smooth red dirt.
I almost know what to do with my life.
That boxing ring in Saigon, motorbike
rides in the rain. There’s enough turquoise sky.
Dying, Jim comes to me in a dream.
Books spill from infinite library shelves.
There’s so much to learn! he says.
I remember who I used to be.

Noctis Terrores will be available late 2024 in paperback and ebook. You can also hear Stephen perform each poem and discuss its techniques in The Poetry Professor podcast, available late 2024.