Janice L. Freytag, Souderton, Pennsylvania, USA
Winter Reveals
Winter reveals
its economy of survival,
the carnivorous marketplace
of bloody negotiations.
An owl swallows
small rodents whole,
dark within her stomach
pearling bones into balls.
I tease apart
regurgitated skin and fur
to name her meals. How familiar
this commerce in death,
and the wild ululation of owls.
The Memory of Corn
A hawk hovers over the field,
tethered like a kite
to the memory of corn.
Everyone is tired,
though the year has just begun.
We feel the weight of missing things.
We forget the shape their names
made in our mouths when we told
our harvest stories, before
the horizon moved away.
Today I Saw a Hawk
Today I saw a hawk
carry a rabbit into the trees.
Never mind that the rabbit’s bones
were ten times denser than the hawk’s.
From afar, it looked effortless,
like the labors of all faithful parents.
Is the hawk glad I saw this?
Does it think, Maybe today
someone will understand death?
Janice L. Freytag currently resides in Souderton, PA. She began writing poetry after working in post-war Bosnia. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Amethyst Review, Dappled Things, One Art, Radix, Relief, Saint Katherine Review, Talking River, Thimble, Windhover and others. In addition to poetry, she has written four children’s musicals. She is an enthusiastic, though not always successful, gardener.