by Judith Skillman
Seabirds
She tells me of her son’s first college
term—the long, slow-motion tumble,
jolt of landing. Grades can mend—
let time unwind, I urge, recall
my son’s troubled launch. In a narrow
ocean cave he wrestled himself,
clawed at jagged walls. I shattered
as he slipped, slammed onto reef. Back then
I hadn’t heard of gannets congregating
in the Frith of Forth, a hundred thousand
birds harbored on Bass Rock.
Blue eggs hatch in craggy rifts,
parents wearied to near-death by a three-month
loop of flight-fish-feed until the chicks,
outsizing their kin, lose purchase
on the ledge. Their bodies totter, succumb,
plunge into deep November sea—
then surface, sudden, with herring, cruise
the thrashing waves, hurtle skyward.
Annette Sisson lives in Nashville, TN. Her poems appear in Valparaiso PR, Birmingham PR, Rust & Moth, and many other journals, and nine have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her second book, Winter Sharp with Apples, is forthcoming from Terrapin Books in October 2024. http://www.annettesisson.com https://www.facebook.com/annette.m.sisson/ https://www.instagram.com/annettesis/
Judith Skillman paints expressionist works in oil on canvas and board. She is interested in feelings engendered by the natural world. Her paintings have been featured on the covers of Thin Air Magazine, Pithead Chapel, and Torrid Literature. Work appears in The Penn Review, Artemis, Raven Chronicles, and other journals. Skillman has studied visual art at McDaniel College, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and Seattle Artist League (SAL). Shows include The Pratt, Galvanize, and Seattle Artist League. Visit judithskillman.com, https://www.etsy.com/shop/JkpaintingsStore, https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/823323.