but first, water (PB) (2026)

Olivia Dorsey Peacock's but first, water navigates the weight of perfection, identity, and inheritance. At once an examination of and a balm for the self, these poems ask readers how they nourish and center themselves despite the burden of expectation. Through ancestral afterimages, food, and weeds, this tender collection offers meditations on growth to regain a sense of self and realignment with what grounds us.