The Voices Project
Follow us
  • POETRY LIBRARY
  • ABOUT
  • SUBMIT
  • RESOURCES

A Hawk Takes Its Time~ By Leonore Hildebrandt

9/24/2014

0 Comments

 
        A pantun is like a hawk with a chicken––it takes its time about striking. 
                                                                                Malay proverb

Headlights are strung into the darkening sky.
Just off the highway a fever rises––sprawling
intentions. The night is a damp cloth,
stretched tight over the town’s illumined limbs.

Just off the highway a fever rises––sprawling
lights displace your presumed directions––bundled,
stretched tight over the town’s illumined limbs.
A hawk takes its time. Chicken ruffles its feathers.

Lights displace your presumed directions––bundled,
your arms are wings against the belly of night.
A hawk takes its time. Chicken ruffles its feathers.
You drive in circles, cutting the corners. At every turn

your arms are wings against the belly of night.
The mirror splits your view, which way––
you drive in circles, cutting the corners. At every turn
a flickering eye is waiting, cranked up to be.

The mirror splits your view, which way––
attention. As you stand in line for more,
a flickering eye is waiting, cranked up to be. Hawk,
when it strikes, pounces feathers into darkness. 


Author Bio:
Leonore Hildebrandt has published poems in the Cafe Review, the Cimarron Review, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, the Spoon River Poetry Review, and the Quercus Review, among other journals. Her translations of Rilke’s Elegies have appeared in Cerise Press. Her letterpress chapbook, The Work at Hand, is available from Flat Bay Press. Her first book of poetry THE NEXT UNKNOWN is now available at flatbaycollective.org. Winner of the 2013 Gemini Poetry Contest, she received fellowships from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Maine Community Foundation, and the Maine Arts Commission. She teaches writing at the University of Maine and serves as an editor for the Beloit Poetry Journal.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Poet Search

    by last name

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

Contact The Voices Project: [email protected]