We voted like a scold of jays to raucously drive off
the hungry red-tailed hawk
who tries its best to claw us where we nest
and now it’s on us to prevent more humankind
from being grabbed, shoved
to the ground face down and led away, cuffed
by amateur predators for whom they’re prey.
It hurts to imagine people
in the moment before they’re lifted out
of their lives, hunted but not yet caught
still free to move
as birds in our graying, spangled sky
as the paperless geese flying overhead.
Catherine Gonick published her debut collection of poetry, Split Daughter of Eve, with Sheila-Na-Gig editions. Her poetry has appeared in many journals including The New Verse News, Vox Populi, and One Art. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, where they work to repair and restore the environment.
