An experimental piece, though I shan't fault you if you can't spot the experimentation.

CARNASSIAL


Raw shriek—
the owl
next door. He wakes
me every night, the
sound of his billowed chest
and the swollen smell
of his claws.

I don’t listen much, not
to his husky eye
rubbing hard against
the moon—she answers,
her white belly
trembles like eggshells
and she succumbs.

It doesn’t concern me so
I don’t listen much, instead
I devour the book in my lap, ignoring
his bully romp
in her soft craters,
the page unread.