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Sarah Browning: For the turkey buzzards

June 7, 2020 by PBQ 2 Comments

who rise ungainly from the fields,
          red heads almost unbearable

to regard, crooked and gelatinous,
        how they circle their obsession

on the scent of the winds, always
        circling back, returning to settle

on that one dead thing that satisfies,
        the past to be pecked and pondered –

forsaken fare for others, but for
        the scavenger the favored meal –

like us, who eat at the table
        of forgetfulness, ask the dead

to nourish us, beg forgiveness
        as we circle and swoop, descend,

fold our wings, bend to the maggoty flesh,
        gorge on the spoiled, glistening feast

Filed Under: Issue 100, Poetry, Poetry 100 Tagged With: Sarah Browning

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Caroline Cottom says

    September 17, 2020 at 11:23 am

    As a vegan who once ate meat, I vote yes! to this wonderful metaphor of human meat eaters as turkey buzzards. I can see us folding our wings, bending to the maggoty flesh.

    Reply
  2. Scott Hightower says

    November 27, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    These three poems by Browning are terrific. This of the turkey buzzards is particularly arresting.

    Reply

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