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James Owens

First Myth

Is it fair when every sunset

an ancient crow that the earth's

 

rotation has nearly worn down

to a sparrow unfolds his speech

 

in so many black leaves

from the crest of my house

 

to speak a new sky?

Sometimes the day sinks

 

blazing below waves.

Some evenings stagger

 

with foamy lights. Midnight,

I tear a hole in the dark

 

and peek at God, there,

where he flaps and caws.

James Owens's newest book is Family Portrait with Scythe (Bottom Dog Press, 2020). His poems and translations appear widely in literary journals, including recent or upcoming publications in Atlanta Review, Presence, Dappled Things, Wild Court, and Honest Ulsterman. He earned an MFA at the University of Alabama and lives in a small town in northern Ontario.

James Owens
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