What Rough Beast | Covid-19 Edition | 04 29 20 | Arleen Williams

Arleen Williams
Wild Rabbit

A wild rabbit nibbles tender grass
Then hops across the hazelnut
Shells beneath the garden table
To settle under the unruly brambles
To rest to think as rabbits do
Silent world in fearful lull

Watchful, the rabbit twitches her ears
Her nose—does she sense my eyes upon her
A gift of Buddha calm and nature’s glory
Quarantined in a silent world

Deep in the bamboo thicket
Along the southern fence line
My rabbit disappears to her burrow
She will return—I know—one day
Hopeful world in silent wait

Arleen Williams is the author, with Pamela Hobart Carter, of twelve short books in easy English, published on the imprint they founded, No Talking Dogs Press. Williams is also the author of of three memoirs and three novels, most recently The Ex-Mexican Wives Club (Independently published, 2019), and Walking Home (CreateSpace, 2015). Her poetry appears in the Chrysanthemum 2020 Literary Anthology (Goldfish Press Seattle, 2020). Williams lives in Seattle, where she teaches at South Seattle College.

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