urbanity demands
no flesh-tearing near
the kids’ jungle gym
carcasses won’t compost
in my prairie garden
our bird feeders are
to feed pretty birds
not a fast food window
for a Cooper’s Hawk
no matter how
fearsome its eye
powerful its talons
glorious its wingspan
regal the shuttlecock
fan of its tail
Paula Reed Nancarrow is a past winner of the Sixfold Poetry Prize. Recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, I-70 Review, Ibbetson Street, Plainsongs, and The Southern Review. She has lived in six states, and now calls Minnesota home. Find her online at paulareednancarrow.com.