Natural History

A dry weaverbird’s nest

               strung from a dry branch

least weasel

         & wolverine   red stilt-legged wolf

spotted clouded striped

            snarl of predators

rearing herd

             midflight, heavy antlered

a dim room for the jerboa’s

                little matchgirl ribs

hulk of mastodon

              chiming sequence of horse fossils

lone glass bee

                  thirsty among so many flowers

frayed fawn curled   in its case

            in its air of alertness

     in its pale twist of grass

Martha McCollough is a writer and visual artist who lives in Chelsea, Massachusetts. She has an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute. Her poems are forthcoming or have appeared in Tampa Review. The Baffler, Crab Creek Review, and Salamander, among others. Her chapbook, Grandmother Mountain, will be published by Blue Lyra Press as part of its Delphi series in the fall of 2019.