My mom says there
were two swans on the
Huron River yesterday
biting
with webs
on feathers
she says they were
trying to kill each other,
that she would have
nightmares about this.
I’m thinking about
whether or not swans
have teeth, and how
they eat and how
far they have to sink
in to sever
I’m thinking about
the last time I went
fishing.
I was eleven
and Uncle Ed
took us to a trout
pond outside of Madison
there was a swan there.
It was Easter weekend
mating season and
the swan had his
chest out, walking.
He smacked a woman
in the forearm
and slung her,
radius to torso
she said to be careful
Uncle Ed taunted
the swan all day
chased it
and named him Josephine.
My dad came along that
day, for once he would
understand natural
selection
or being a man in mom’s
family
it’s making sense now
why she doesn’t like
to see animals
bleed or overflow
into murk
she does not go limp.
