local_library The Stoop

by R L Swihart

Published in Issue No. 284 ~ January, 2021

Walking down Front Street, I saw him first — sitting

on the mast — but I wasn’t sure and thought

perhaps he was like those owl decoys

you see on roofs or chimneys

 

*

 

I kept looking to see if he moved. He did.

He didn’t. I couldn’t tell

 

*

 

“Do you see that bird?” I asked, but she didn’t have

her glasses on and thought I was testing her.

“Not the gull on the streetlight. Farther

away. Bigger. On the mast

of that ship”

 

*

 

We never did solve the riddle of that bird. We had

to check out of the hotel and head to Gaviota.

She thinks we’ll never know. Occasionally,

and out of the blue, I catch myself

falling

 

account_box More About

R L Swihart was born in Michigan but now resides in Long Beach CA. His work has sparsely dotted both the Net and hardcopy literary journals (e.g., Cordite, Pif Magazine, Denver Quarterly, Quadrant Magazine, Salt Hill Journal). His third book of poetry was released July 2020: Woodhenge.