Daily Archives: April 18, 2023

Against Nature

Screed upon screen upon screed
of near-animal demands at full voice.

Involuntary opposition every time
at first blush of what we are sure we loathe.

We rise from bed into this
and only tumble out of this when we sleep.

If we notice a truer life in our yards
in the night, it’s only when we look up

from the steel glow of our own devices.
Out there are worlds cooperating 

beyond our wars. An opossum slips by
and a coyote chooses not to hunt

as it trots through in tandem with a mate.
What on earth can we think of

to say of such things
that is neither for nor against?


Hedging A Bet

My cat demands 
an open window. It’s
spring, she insists. 

I tell her she’s right
but she’s missing
the cold point that today

is not especially warm
despite the date 
and the recent equinox.

She herself is not especially warm;
her fondness for me
seems purely transactional

much of the time; true,
there are moments when her purring
as she lies there in the sun 

might betray affection unaffected
by treats given or favors granted,
but I never can tell for sure.

Maybe those times are payment
into a bank of future work
on her behalf.

Maybe she understands
how desperate I am
to hear it

in these up and down days
of early spring when cold
is still as much a presence here

as it has been for months
and years. Maybe 
she’s just hedging a bet.