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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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