new from above/ground press: Okay?, by Lori Anderson Moseman

Okay?
Lori Anderson Moseman
$5

stay

as a teen I lived in California near a mission
in Father Junípero Serra’s chain
when visiting the edifice I’d gawk
at artifacts blatant in their colonialism
my mother would refuse to go inside
she’d stay in their garden stealing seeds

            *
“stay” is a version of “place”
we are taught “stay” without the word “stay”…
“sit” we say     then walk away
if pooch bolts we block that motion with our bodies
if pooch stays immobile until we return
we say “good”     only then do we offer food

*
when a doe places a fawn, she says “stay” by licking
she leaves her fawn when it is scentless
I first approached an “abandoned” fawn
with an unleash puppy by my side
the chase ends when the fawn forges the river
the puppy refuse to risk water
retrieves a stick and banks it
the same pup—a bit older—stays
nose to nose with another fawn
having learned not to run

*
off leash, pup’s ma—a shepherd mix—tries
to drown a doe who charges her pup
we do not call “place” or “come”
we stop the kill by calling our dog’s name

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
April 2022
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Lori Anderson Moseman’s latest poetry collections include: Darn (Delete Press, 2021), Y (Operating System, 2019), Light Each Pause (Spuyten Duyvil, 2017), Flash Mob (Spuyten Duyvil, 2016) and All Steel (Flim Forum, 2012). Her collaboration with book artist Karen Pava Randall, Full Quiver, is available from Propolis Press. A former educator, she ran Stockport Flats press from 2006 to 2016.  See https://loriandersonmoseman.com

A second above/ground title is forthcoming.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com