Chris Roberts-Antieau  © 2008 All Rights Reserved

            Of This Yellow

of this yellow the falconer cries foul
when the field is bloodied
and emptied
of every delicate breath

of this yellow the president boasts progress
unemployment down retirement up
just look at those flags people

of this yellow an old woman
removes her shoes and leaves them
at the bank of Blue Gully
before joining her trout ancestors

of this yellow I have a knot
in my gut
defies untying

of this yellow a tiger
yellowly growls
of this yellow Whitman yawped
and my mother warned me

of this yellow my Uncle Louie spits
pulls a blade of tobacco from his teeth
and lights his cherry-bowled pipe

 

         Lana Hechtman Ayers
            Copyright © 2008

 

Lana Hechtman Ayers lives in the Pacific Northwest where she is a manuscript consultant and writing workshop facilitator. She runs Concrete Wolf, a poetry chapbook press, and is poetry editor of Crab Creek Review.

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