On A Husband’s Passion
By Jenn Vetter

 

Consider the rendering of a feline in clay.

 

Is she regal or coy?
Is she precious?
Does the artist defy the medium,
seducing her essence into existence?

 

My mate’s desires, pruned from years
of disappointment - this is the prize
he can still hope for.

 

The years-long wounds
of rage, resentment, and obsession,
can now be healed

by a ceramic cat.

.

 

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

In the spring of 2001, I read about a Ghost Bird,
last seen in 1944, perhaps yet alive.
Imagine such a simple time.
Lounging on a Sunday afternoon,
following the hopeful journey of a few men in a swamp.

 

We were newlywed, young, childless,
cosseted in our sun-drenched studio, the proverbial love nest,
I indulged the dream of this enigmatic bird
but that was before.

 

Today, I heard that Fish & Wildlife,
has given up on the bird.
I know I shouldn’t be surprised.
They’ve been preparing me for this.

My despair has been fattened over the years,
force-fed the impotence of my country
to do much more than wring its hands and say

 

We’ve done all we can.

 

We can only offer our thoughts and prayers.

.

Jenn Haase Vetter (rhymes with sassy cheddar) from US is a teacher and writer in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has appeared in Livina Press, Epistemic Literary, and Moon City Press.