Animal Talk
She used to lie down in the field
and listen to the horses talking—
squeals, snorts, nickers, neighs
plus ear language, turns and twists
They told jokes to each other
made me feel like part of the family
my almost-sister told me years later
I live on an island, she says, literally
but also metaphorically
And still with animals, chickens
and dogs now and a crow named Luis
all talking to her, telling her
stories and secrets
We’re all alive together, she says
I picture her swathed in feathers
and fur, turning an ear to the bubbly
talk of the fish who circle her island
all alive together
*
Sally Zakariya’s poetry has appeared in some 80 print and online journals and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her most recent publication is Something Like a Life (Gyroscope Press). She is also the author of Muslim Wife, The Unknowable Mystery of Other People, Personal Astronomy, When You Escape, Insectomania, and Arithmetic and other verses, as well as the editor of a poetry anthology, Joys of the Table. Zakariya blogs at www.butdoesitrhyme.com.
