Predicament
what duds Orb Spider slung
cross the back of ol' juniper moon
in sun-sparkle dew, quiver—
young Master Goldfinch: screwed
Ampad
product of the efficient forest:
blue-lined treble staff,
reft of wood thrush song
What streetlights pitch through the branches
oblong, luminous:
news
that isn't
Lemon
ten thousand, the brightest canaries
can never unhalve
dead quiet
in the bittern's nest
the rotting jaw of an alligator
Robert A Ayres's poems have appeared in Southwestern American Literature, The Texas Observer, The Cumberlandland Poetry Review and in the Marlboro Review. His work has been published in two anthologies from Milkweed Editions, Outsiders and Urban Nature. He lives in Austin where he manages his family's raches in the Hill Country and the Davis Mountains.
Copyright ©2001 Robert A Ayres