from “Slow Violence”
Katherine Duckworth | Slow Violence | Beautiful Days Press | August 2023 | 54 Pages
as dwarf seahorse, Halberstadt, tidal wave, and woodcock
black locust, currency pairs, bromeliad
if wealthy, as food, investments, government bonds
as melt, magnolia, test cricket, and breath
manta, sway, Cairngorms, slow spinning
pulsar, seismic, flagship, and margins
of river. Maersk Line, heterokont, neurodegenerative
disease. Musger, the long dyings, the interest
accumulating
as white cedar, bristlecone, mauna loa, and pit
mahabharata, devil glitch, recession, lichen
as logarithmic, slowsort, or the equivalent
eight hours, delayed crack, sluggish lumen
of the bat. eephus pitch, and of cartoon physics
and of tissue, and of sequestrum, and of the slow
worm not worm, not snake. slow no, slow wake,
when the body asks for rest
frame. dial up, plastics, luminite I am sitting
in a room poor sam peabody, Peabody
as water carving, warped pane, Dark Star, and aftermaths
leak, boomerang, thaw, one hundred million unexploded
land mines, as normalized quiet of the unseen, my failures
one hundred million unexploded
Starlings. As Bitches Brew, limestone,
Soft deposit of crinoid. Swell and drip.
Irridededent primaries of starlings, nothing
But Mortimer. Still in motion. My ill
Equipped beak
•
say that blue jays jeer
say that lesser yellowlegs you you
say that cardinals cheer cheer cheer
say red-eyed vireo look up over here see me over here
say that solitary vireo, like red-eyed but slower, sour
say that house sparrows cheer up
say that american goldfinches potato chip and dip
say that baltimore orioles here here come right here dear
say that barred owl who cooks for you
say black throated blue warbler I am so lazy
say that great horned owl are you awake me too
say that brown thrasher drop it drop it cover it up
say that carolina wren tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle
say that eastern meadowlark spring of the year
say that grasshopper sparrow pee trip tree
say that green heron skew
say that savannah sparrow take take take it easy
say that great kiskadee qu’est-ce qu’il dit
say that horned lark pit sit
say that alder flycatcher free beer
say that warbling vireo when I see you I shall squeeze you and I’ll squeeze you til you squirt
say that willet ha ha ha ha ha
say that inca dove no hope
say that western towhee drink your tea
say that bobwhite bob white bob white
say that ovenbird teacher teacher teacher
say that song sparrow maids maids maids put on your tea kettle, cupped
the yellow-bellied sapsucker in my hands before it fell limp, a pathetic attempt
From Slow Violence by Katherine Duckworth.
Copyright © 2023 Katherine Duckworth.
Reprinted with permission of Beautiful Days Press.