"Night Owl" by Staci Batchelder

I am no work of art, I confess.
Blood and flesh excite me;
I "pluck" to avoid gulping too fast
the pink mouse I'm thrilled to have killed.
No glass case : I'm mouthily alive
pecking, squawking. My choice between land and flight
means Food -- animal being. See me?
I am bird-girl. Lucky you to have hands
you could get dirty! You say your lips are bored,
yet you speak (Of course the dog's afraid
with no love word near) and seek to fill
your void with words: abstractly stuffed.
I'm just a birdie crying "Moon!"
Crying "O! smell of blood! smell of pine!"
So good -- good enough.

Bio: Patricia Brody is about to finish her 2nd Masters at City College of New York in Creative Writing and Literature. Her first MS is from Columbia from 21 years ago in social work. She is raising three children in New York City, ages 18, 13 and 9. Patricia is the author of the poetry series DANGEROUS to KNOW, poems in the voices of lost literary-historic women. Title poem will appear this summer in the Paris Review. Other work in Poet Lore, Room of One's Own (Vancouver) and Western Humanities Review. Two Academy of American Poets Awards and Semi-finalist in the LyRic Recovery Festival, final judging March 22 at Carnegie Hall.

Contact Patricia Brody at tomkostro@sprintmail.com