field mice

matthew savoca

in the woods there were trees. it was not an alarming situation. there were deer,

there was a german shepherd, we thought there was a chipmunk... this was all

exactly what we expected from the fort washington state park. the rocks, the pine

needles, the rabbit at the end that we saw from above on top this platform they

had built out of wooden planks, the sign that said eagles' nests can weigh one ton,

below, the ground looked muddy but was frozen instead and i counted nine cardinals

or three of them three times, they looked like bright red hamburgers stuck to tree

branches. it took a really long time for me to back out of the parking spot because

an elderly couple was out for a walk too. when i finally did pull out i knocked over

a sign that said george washington never slept here, and then heard a freight train

coming down the tracks; i wonder where that's going i said and then felt a hand riding

my thigh all the way home where on the bed we made love like little lost field mice

on the corner of a piece of eight-and-a-half-by-eleven home office printer paper