Barbed wire rust bleeds down a fence post where another hawk perches, eyeing us like prey, plumes flaring in the smoldering sun. Woods cold, empty, and gray, smelling of mice nests and burned out stars. Smoky November dusk from which we fled before every burning bird, the shadow of every bare tree, overtook us. The woods behind us vanishing utterly as night unwound its dark road.
Richard Hedderman is a multi-Pushcart Prize nominated author of two collections of poetry including most recently, Choosing a Stone (Finishing Line Press). He was a Guest Poet at the Library of Congress, and has performed his writing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His poetry has appeared in dozens of literary publications both in the U.S. and abroad including The Stockholm Review of Literature, Rattle, The American Poetry Review, and the anthology In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press). Formerly Writer-in-Residence at the Milwaukee Public Museum, he is currently the Coordinator of the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books. More of his work may be found at richardheddermanpoetry.com.
