Hunger on the Wing
Past the gopher hole
sunk deep as a well digger's
test bit, gopher hole clawed
right through asphalt
past the jovial mutt's
loose dirt shimmy
under chain link,
past the frenetic stashes
of stacked-up mail,
we walk into the redtail's
open season, hawk/
grace/hunger
on the wing.
When talons snatch
her up, the blue
lizard flies.
Black Turnstone
Far away you twist,
turn, count all the reasons not
to love. By the lake
a bird I have no name for
splits the air before my face.
All The Mustaches On All The Judases
Hairs from the base of the tail
of a striped cat fed on lard
touch up both flourishes
(the liberal/the old guard)
of Judas's mustache.
All the mustaches on all the Judases
lashed to firecrackers
the night before Easter
blast into Kingdom Come
or the next day at least
when we see what one kiss
ordains--that betrayal
reveals the soul,
stands us naked
in the spotlight.
One kiss--lit fuse!
Then the brain-blasting
strobe of owning up.
*Though outlawed in 1957, the practice during Holy Week
of each family destroying an effigy of Judas continues
in Mexico and Central America. Many of the artists who
create Judas figures also make skeletons in action for
the Day of the Dead.
- Peggy Z. Shumaker
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