1

Today I saw the white flash card
of an eagle’s head soaring in the thermal
currents above my forest cabin. He’s a familiar
sight now. During the pandemic
I started calling him a friend & named him
Henry. I’ve seen him diving for fresh
bass at Owsley Lake, emerging
from the black-green trailing strips of Curlyleaf
& Starry Stonewort.  It’s my fifth year
living on the mountain. I’m learning
& Henry’s part & parcel of it.

2

Mario, my neighbor, insulted me
for wearing a hand-sewn polka-dotted
cloth mask to Dollar General.  I stopped talking
to him for a year. I drove by his farm
every day, saw him feeding
his horses & haying, but I rejected him
like a toxin. When I found out
he had cancer, I felt ashamed. I softened
& realized we share common threads.

Mario didn’t get better, he lost muscle, spirit
& strength. Stayed indoors & his kids began
to take care of him. We didn’t talk much
but I offered stew & cookies. Henry,
my eagle friend, circles the homes
on Owsley Fork Road, including Mario’s
old brick ranch, now empty & dark,
although his four sons
still work the land.