Hunt, Peck<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A tyro, at the keys, I start a field
\nwith stalks, bent.
\nVenture in, hunting, pecking,
\nto see, what? \u2014now:<\/p>\n
chickens. Inelegant, graceless.
\nBeaky pullets. Pillow-
\nbreasted, neck and caw, claw,
\njab. Kernels pricked, break.
\nDropped and pecked. Uneven
\nstabs. A nib, a nibble. Sharp pecks
\nper seed. Each seed a letter.
\nPock. Pock.<\/p>\n
\uf061<\/p>\n
Into the woods I walked. I went alone.
\nThough I was afraid, I pretended
\nnot to be. Every falling leaf
\nmade a sound. And every bird, landing,
\nlifting again. I, too. Up
\nahead in the path, a doe
\nemerged from a copse.
\nI stopped. She, too.
\nI stared and stared as long as she let me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hunt, Peck” is reprinted from\u00a0What have you done to our ears to make us hear echoes?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Milkweed Editions, 2011).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Arlene Kim<\/a> grew up on the east coast of the U.S. before drifting westward. Her first collection of poems What have you done to our ears to make us hear echoes?<\/em> <\/a>(Milkweed Editions) won the 2012 American Book Award. She lives in Seattle where she reads for the poetry journal DMQ Review<\/em><\/a> and writes poems, prose, and bits between.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hunt, Peck A tyro, at the keys, I start a field with stalks, bent. Venture in, hunting, pecking, to see, what? \u2014now: chickens. Inelegant, graceless. Beaky pullets. Pillow- breasted, neck and caw, claw, jab. Kernels pricked, break. Dropped and … Continue reading