Nathan Fako
Nathan Fako (he/they) is a former high school teacher. He spends his time walking his dachshund and reading. He is currently an MFA candidate in poetry at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Five Stars for the Beloved Dead
You never imagine having to tell the owner of an Airbnb you found their pet, dead in the barn.
It could’ve been any afternoon. One night in Wyoming, only.
And yet you entered the barn and caught
that glassy eye final as a single drop
from the antique waterspout out by the naked elm.
One wing raised
at such an awkward angle.
You’d never think: should I put this in the review?
And yet you stood at the window of the guest house,
watching frost turn into golden air off the grass.
You never grapple with the sense of things, couldn’t
understand, city boy,
the way the owner’s gloved hand held the goose around the neck
as if he hadn’t cradled the egg-sick body,
and how he gripped the bronzy spade
leaning into the bitter cut
for light to break the rising soil
flung open like a violet door.
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Image by Stephen Leonardi from Pexels
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