CW: Animal death, covid-19
White-tails hang from
The buck pole downtown
Dripping blood on the sidewalk
Ink-stamp a trail of burgundy
Bootprints across the
Linoleum of the gun shop
Where downstate hunters
Exchange contagion for sport
Pittering my windshield
Sheets of graupel whip sideways
As turkeys, in strutting bravado,
Barricade the pickup doors
Picking fights with anyone
Willing to listen
I throw a field stone
Bouncing it first on the driveway —
an act of regrettable mercy —
The granite ricochets and thuds
Meaningless off a big tom’s puffed chest
We kick the birds away and
escape to the house
That evening,
The wife and I perform
The boys’ bedtime ritual
Pour two rocks glasses full
Stain the countertop
(spilled vermouth, dashed bitters)
To chaos we wake unrested
Retracing steps to lost face masks
Scrambling to locate homework
Save my kids,
The school bus is empty again
(Deep-cleaned, desensitized and alone)
Their classmates already pulled from school
Infected or feckless or ashamed
The neighbors decorated
Earlier than normal for Christmas
Eaves of perpetually dripping icicle
Lights, listlessly strobing a lawn
Ornamented in styrofoam reindeer
Guarding some sort of hollow prayer
Tim Chilcote is a writer, fisherman and poker player. Follow him on Twitter @TimChilcote.