In my open hand
this wandering violin praying mantis is being tuned. Not by me but by the late morning wind that whistles through the minute strings of her spindly, thinner-than-toothpick-body.
Her ornate round head bobs to its beat – one octave higher than any I have ever heard before. The move vibrates her torso, delicately tingling my skin. She tremors ever so slightly. In the sway of her ballet, legs pirouette across my palm. Each spin moves her closer to the cliffs of my fingertips wanting to curl in against the crush of her disappearing. I want to hold her safe from the harms of this world she and I have both been born into.
Unable to camouflage into the fleshy creases of my not-yet-fully-formed fist, she leaps into the air – knobby knees bouncing as she springs away
before I can clutch even one tiny claw.
Your beloved hen
plumage petaled in a cardboard box, releases all effort. Her tracks, distinct prints of passage to and from the coop, dissolve with the coming light of the next day; oval eggs will no longer be laid for scrambles, sunny side up souffles.
You squeeze your hands and try to fix what is not broken but done. She is spent. You are spent, too, with sorrow that rolls, like the last penny of a quarter at the feed store, off the counter; disappears into the sawdust floor. In sight of the door to her time here closing, she blinks as you stroke her soft feathers. Her last breath, warm on your wrist.
Starlight drive-thru
The Pleiades in short blue cluster skirts and roller skates, menus in hand, take Friday Night date orders without once peeking to see if anyone’s thighs are touching.
And if they had? And if they were?
Kitchen grill chef Taurus sizzles and flips charred comets the star-hop sisters will wrap in fine mesh nets that unfold with the night.
Poetry by Karen Pierce Gonzalez
Karen Pierce Gonzalez’s poetry collections include True North, Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs and Sightings from a Star Wheel. Forthcoming: Down River with Li Po. An award-winning writer and artist, her work has appeared in numerous publications. She lives in the North San Francisco Bay Area. Twitter (X) @folkheartpress
