Grace
tassel eared red-tinged squirrels scampering
to the top of the birch
inching their bellies upward
on black spring bark wet with dew
paws thumping, tails racing, branches trembling
tails quivering like rival trumpets, teasing
each other to the tip of a slender
branch sagging beneath their weight…
a flash of red
silence
just the tuc tuc tuc of a wood pecker
far below
the two ducks splashing
in a puddle don’t seem to notice falling
or flying squirrels.
Ariella Katz is a Boston native living in Moscow, Russia. Her writing has appeared in Arion, The Gate, and East from Chicago. She is the co-editor of Does the Sun Have a Light Switch? A Literary Criminal Almanac, an anthology of stories and poetry by formerly incarcerated people in Moscow.
Amethyst Review 