By Laurie Glover
Featured Art: “Farmer’s Market” by Hannah Hatley

The black hen and I
are having it out.
She wants to brood
and I want her not to.

I resent that she thinks
she gets to sit
and want.

Even with nothing beneath her
to warm
nothing that will lead
to anything new
she insists.

Her little red magma eyes glow.

When I tilt the box
she erupts
every feather straight out.

I know I’m not her.
But I am,
and I want to stop—

I want the pain to shoot out
like cleansing light,

I want to stop
crouching in the dirt
willing something to be born.

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Laurie Glover’s work has appeared in literary journals such as Nimrod and Zyzzyva and her essays in magazines like Boom. Most recently, her poem series, “Sundry Articles Found,” is part of a special issue of Regeneration: Environment, Art & Culture, arising from The Arctic Circle Arts and Sciences Residency of Autumn 2022. Retired from UC Davis, she teaches literature and writing courses for the Institute for Shipboard Learning.