Cathy Porter

Run and Duck

History stutters before repetition –
we ignore the clues, through
decades and centuries. Tonight,
we’re hit hard, the unknown our
familiar enemy; old paint, chipped
beyond repair. Health and wealth
make this difficult, my eyes wide-open
for the hammer. The news – one
more body-blow for bodies that
have absorbed too much, at the
expense of inequality; family and
friends, ghosted. Most duck when
shots are fired; we run first, then
duck. Both carry consequences.

previously published in Amulet Poetry Magazine

 

Cathy Porter’s poetry has appeared in Plainsongs, Homestead Review, California Quarterly, Hubbub, Cottonwood, Comstock Review, and various other journals. The Dash Between Us is her upcoming third chapbook from Finishing Line Press: A Life In The Day and Dust And Angels appeared in 2012 and 2014. She has two chapbooks published by Dancing Girl Press in Chicago: Exit Songs (2016), and 16 Days (2019), as well as The Skin Of Uncertainty (2020) from Maverick Duck Press. Cathy has been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes, and serves as a special editor for the journal Fine Lines in Omaha, Nebraska.