Goats<\/p>\n
The ram is making a fuss. Some goats
\nGot out. Three Boers, small ones, squeezed
\nUnder the fence. One snout finds
\nSlack wire and the others follow. They bleat
\nLike Sanhedrin probing the law. Heaven\u2019s
\nAlways on the other side, even if
\nIt\u2019s the neighbor\u2019s deadly
\nRhododendrons. Now the three graze
\nAlong the fence but you
\nCan\u2019t herd them to the gate without
\nThe dog. A loose nanny reads
\nYour next move like Bobby
\nFischer. The flat brown eyes mask
\nA canny insolence until she
\nCurls her lips at you. But the dog doesn\u2019t
\nTake any crap, as
\nMy father would say. He was
\nA goat\u2014 a Capricorn.
\nWe moved house eight times in
\nAs many years. He died at number
\nEight else it might have been more. The dead
\nHold a lot of power. Just last night I dreamed
\nMy mother motioned me into the back
\nSeat of Father\u2019s big Buick where he
\nSat at the wheel smoking
\nA cigar. She was a Pisces, so eager
\nTo please. Maybe she
\nStill does on the other side. Maybe
\nThey want me under the fence.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Donald Berk relocated to Yakima from Illinois after a career in tech biz. He returned to school at age 60 to indulge two dreams: an MFA in writing (Bennington) and a commercial pilot rating. As a volunteer for\u00a0Tieton Arts & Humanities<\/a>\u00a0he has been fortunate to help sponsor LitFuse since its inception. His novella,\u00a0In Search of Wings Lost,<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>a riff on Attar\u2019s epic medieval poem, \u201cThe Conference of the Birds\u201d, was published in 2007.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Goats The ram is making a fuss. Some goats Got out. Three Boers, small ones, squeezed Under the fence. One snout finds Slack wire and the others follow. They bleat Like Sanhedrin probing the law. Heaven\u2019s Always on the other … Continue reading