Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Tuesday poem #584 : Nicholas Bradley : Eighteen Counts

 

 

Murder of crows, manslaughter of goshawks,
credit-card fraud of emperor penguins.

Embezzlement of toucans, vehicular
homicide
of lorikeets, abduction

of skuas. Hit-and-run of macaws.
Treason of glaucous-winged gulls, hoax

regarding terrorist activity of pigeons,
seditious conspiracy of rails. Piracy

of boreal owls, destruction of property
of snipes, impaired driving of woodpeckers.

Forcible entry of cormorants, weapons
trafficking of cranes, contempt of court

of chickadees. A criminal negligence
of hummingbirds. An arson of terns.

 

 

 

Nicholas Bradley is the author of two books of poetry: Rain Shadow (University of Alberta Press, 2018) and Before Combustion (Gaspereau Press, 2023). His poems have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, including Best Canadian Poetry 2024. He lives in Victoria, BC – in lək̓ʷəŋən territory.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan

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