The Owl
Marilyn Buck
[This poem is read by Nellie Wong 
]
Emma woman needed no serpent
to know the ways of the world
she whirled around, looked down on nakedness
and approved
perched upon the apple branch, fist clenched she whooped
why listen
to a snake when one is
a perspicacious owl
spectacled, panoramic eyes penetrating
penumbras of hybrid white mice pretending
to be blue-blood swans?
Emma owl swooped
anarched wings and ruffled feathers
red & black worker ants sallied
from rattletrap tenements
mine shafts and foundry furnaces
you have nothing
to lose but your chains
they marched uptown
to strike
the swindle-starched underbellies
of gold-dust-whiskered rats
aria-throated plebian owl she
flew flew
indefatigable over seas and land
wings fanning freedom
November 2001
About the CD | The Poems | The Contributors | About Marilyn Buck
poems © the authors
compilation © The Freedom Archives
