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A DELICATE BALANCE
squares of white
pan her russet coat
erratic as a painter’s stipple on a barn
front legs straddled in a V before her
rising to her neck and mouth
that nibbles verdant leaves from a tree.
her eel black tongue
extends rotates withdraws
extends rotates withdraws
her movements slow
as natural as a pendulum moving
right to left left to right
in tempo with her chewing
horns of Pan jut up between her ears – lashes
thick as Nevelson’s
hood her Q-ball eyes
connecting now with mine
as if to castigate
invasion of her privacy
for the hungry ruminant
nuzzling
at her nipple.
Patricia D’Allesandro, Desert Hot Springs
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