Larrea
Louise Mathias
Moved the jackrabbit
from the road, laid her under
a bush. Land of little
shade, we do what we can.
One sport is crying while driving.
Another the daffodil light.
All the mornings I’ve found you,
been found.
*
I’m just eating a sandwich with Sarah,
when the wind picks up, and her hair
becomes another,
crucial, planet. Night running off
with itself. Away
from your star. So soft
is the fur
of the currently –
About this poem
“I’m not in the habit of picking up dead animals, but when I came across a black-tailed jackrabbit one day while driving through the Mojave National Preserve, I was busy wrestling with one of my more persistent delusions – that I could somehow untie the knot of love and grief if I just tried hard enough. Like an angel come to disabuse me of this notion, she was heavier than I expected, still slightly warm and almost entirely intact-not a drop of blood on my white shirt after.” – Louise Mathias
About Louise Mathias
Louise Mathias is the author of “The Traps” (Four Way Books, 2012). She lives in Joshua Tree, Calif.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2016 Louise Mathias. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
