Hunger<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
February’s false spring
\nbrings to the farm a spate of new calves
\nand a lone coyote<\/p>\n
tired of hunger. My mother
\ncalls the coyote “he,”
\nas in, “You’d think he’d be satisfied<\/p>\n
with one.” But he takes all
\nplus one cow in labor. It’s our version
\nof tragedy, the small herd, the lost<\/p>\n
calves dramatic as Shakespeare
\nthough I don’t know who’s the hero
\nof this piece, maybe my brother’s stepdaughter,<\/p>\n
thirteen, carrying her 22-rifle
\nand stalking our coyote
\nover the brown winter fields,<\/p>\n
marshes seeping to her boot tops
\nand the scree of a red-tailed hawk
\nfalling over the deep woods. Our coyote<\/p>\n
is nowhere to be found, curled
\nin her den, I suspect, with wet pups,
\nher dugs so swollen<\/p>\n
she can’t hunt. Then one new calf
\nturns up at feeding time
\nwith its mother<\/p>\n
and, in the orchard,
\nblossoms curl against black boughs
\nlike hands waiting to unfold.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hunger” is reprinted from Sparrow<\/em>, now available from Writers & Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bethany Reid<\/a> teaches American literature and creative nonfiction at Everett Community College — and the inevitable college composition. She and her husband live in Edmonds with their three teenaged daughters, and their three cats. \u00a0Her first full-length collection, Sparrow,<\/em><\/a> is just released from Writers & Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hunger February’s false spring brings to the farm a spate of new calves and a lone coyote tired of hunger. My mother calls the coyote “he,” as in, “You’d think he’d be satisfied with one.” But he takes all … Continue reading