by Clare Welsh Eduardo Gutierrez “Back there…is the ruinous forever.” -- C.D. Wright The tiger lilies died too soon. Dried to stiff stalks weeded out and thrown in the compost heap. With so much else: eggshells, gristled meat, carrot stems. What couldn’t be digested. What refused to be forgotten. What needed, finally, to rot. The stubs piled behind the house. It wasn’t easy going. Back there. In this world , one’s father said, you need a thick skin . One’s skin was thin. It l