The Seagull Scans a Fallow Field

I read you a poem from my upcoming book.

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The Seagull Scans a Fallow Field

The seagull scans
a fallow field
in search of God

knows what.
Have you lost your way,
mistaking this God

forsaken wilderness
for the shores you were
created for? Perhaps

you were gulled
by the Prairie
waves into believing

you’d discovered country
good for more than
flying over, maybe

even a place
to stay. It's okay,
so did we.

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My debut collection of poems, Forbearance, is forthcoming from Cascade Books (early 2025). A version of this poem first appeared in Volume III of Solum Journal.