Skip to content →

Bystander

a haiku sequence

When the rabbit screams
I do not intervene. Who
am I? Nobody—

one body. Two ears
that hear. Eyes that see the gorged
moon, the bloody grass.

The cries haunt. I did
nothing.
Where is God? Right here,
still as a dry stream.

Nearby, a sated
belly sleeps. I wait for rain
to flood the stained earth.

Ann Weil’s poetry appears in Best New Poets 2024, Pedestal Magazine, RHINO, Chestnut Review, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. Weil is the author of Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman (Yellow Arrow Publishing, 2023) and Blue Dog Road Trip (Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2024). A four-time Pushcart nominee, Weil lives in Michigan.

Tip the Author

Issue 42 >

Next >