Whiskeytown – Page 2 – My Love is for the Birds

Fear of Fire

A red-shoulder hawk screeching woke me at noon. It is breeding time after all. I only ever hear two hawks at a time, but there’s three. I’ve seen them circling the yard. Probably two males courting the female. I checked my phone and I had a text from my secret lover of a thousand years.Continue reading “Fear of Fire”

a burning question was answered

The fire came swooping down from the west, meeting the swimming pool and splitting in two. What burned and what was spared is still a mystery. The house I now own was not spared. It burned to the ground in three minutes flat. I’d like to think it burned for me, that while I satContinue reading “a burning question was answered”

The Bears and Wolves

When you called I was sleeping. It confused me to hear your voice. It was 1:42, I was drunk asleep and dreaming when you called. My pain was raw and exposed. I railed you for treating me how you do, but you always have an excuse You were saved the by the Good Book, IContinue reading “The Bears and Wolves”

I’m a little less haunted these days

January 28th came and went without incident. Without notice. I thought The Cowboy’s ghost would come and haunt me on this the anniversary of me having ghosted him, but if he did, I didn’t even notice. So much has happened since then, and yet nothing at all has. Since then, I have become kind ofContinue reading “I’m a little less haunted these days”

counting lovers like sheep

Fall migration has started, hushing whatever was screaming inside me to a stop. Birdsong has that power over me. I spend my days tending to my plants and my rescue animals fully embracing my solitude, knowing that at last I’m done with the outside world. I have dozens of juvenile Western Bluebirds and them growingContinue reading “counting lovers like sheep”

family of foxes

Charlie, what do you think? You outlasted frostbite and followed every beast. Can you sing? Can you love? Because if you can’t by now it don’t look good for us. I had thought my mulberries would go to waste this fall, but a family of foxes moved in. The mom watches me and only walksContinue reading “family of foxes”

Wasted Fruit

a good fantasy

My lover equates me with the city so I wanted him to see my mountain town for himself. He drove me to the convenient store and the post office to get my mail. The post office doesn’t come here so we’re entitled to a free mail box at the post office off Highway 299. WhenContinue reading “a good fantasy”

Cabin Built for One

I know I still love living up here alone on a mountain, because when I was on a bus riding through Italy, the farms on the Tuscan hillside fascinated me. I marveled at the space and land they had. Then I would remind myself I have as much land if not more. For a suspendedContinue reading “Cabin Built for One”

before the next fire season

…Sold my coat when I hit Spokane, bought myself a hard pack of cigarettes in the early morning rain… …and I texted you, “I’m back from Italy.” You never replied. When I left I asked if you were going to miss me, and you’d said, “Of course. I’ll just be waiting for you to getContinue reading “before the next fire season”