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This Traitor; This by Karen Wolf



This traitor


came from a long

            line of zero in, drop

the load, circle

            around to catch

the explosion. Dad: Korea, Grand

            father: WWII, Great: The War

To End All. Her pig tails

            bounced to the yellow

bus: he savored her hot

            cocoa kiss. His

mission: bombard tunnels a half

            world away—tunnels that snaked so

close to a school where boys

             with skinned knees can see

the future. Dad

            refused, wondering will she one

day grasp his truancy.



This


landscape whispers buried

secrets into a history alive with


generations of red tailed

hawks that scout for mice in


nutting trees that produce for

mule deer, squirrels, and jack rabbits—who


plump for coyotes and wolf packs. Symbiosis until

crack of a gun, groan of a plow, spread


of macadam herald dwindling

numbers and displacement. They cleave

 

to the green path

dodging the metal


onslaught.

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