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 >