/ / ( o >,
\What height/what depth–this multi-year reuse of /)) nest /what mud-mulch/one garden-hose lip
fat batch of fleas \ Three lariat-kinked willow wands lie beneath the old bald buzzard fisherman /
This hoarder-boarder raptor / splays its vicelike \/ zygodactyl feet–its dressy X-shaped
toes like certain owls \ like woodpeckers \ /\ /\ / the while conceiving smaller birds a
cast of live-in kin /\ | It’s fish-hawk law within this commune / wicked kind while kickass
wind declares I see you starling clan \ you grackle fam | blue plastic bead / and split rake tine / four
splinters of ore/ more sticks\twigs/mud\ants/grass\bark/mud\leaves/mites\flotsam/kitestring
/mud\ants/grass\bark/mud\leaves/mites/mud\flotsam/broom-bristle/twigs\mud/grass//
/spider web/more grass [an eye of sky space] house sparrow nest\Can see you dotted cowbird egg—
white-grey and vying for a berth/one bottle cap\two zip-ties\branch/an ant\some ash | Ignacio’s
\ spiral
boot
lace
Diane Raptosh’s collection American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press) was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award (poetry). She teaches literature and creative writing as well as courses for the criminology program at the College of Idaho. Her tenth collection, Come Across, will be published by Cornerstone Press in 2027. . WEB
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