by Laura Rodley
And how far does the spirit
of the owl fly, its blue tilted
feathers buffeted in flight
heating its tiny owl heart
its legs covered in britches of tawny feathers,
cowboy of the woods
hunting for mice, birds, squirrels
and now the cowboys in Wyoming
are hunting bigger game
hunting coyotes and wolves.
Once gone from the forest,
their shadows flit between trunks of trees
and cowboys fear the wolves even more
because they came back from the dead,
even though they were flown back in helicopters
to pad the snow in silence.
Laura Rodley’s chapbook Your Left Front Wheel is Coming Loose has been nominated for a PEN New England L.L. Winship Award and a Mass Book Award.
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