AMBUSH ON A WINTER SUNDAY
Late afternoon we lay back
on a stony white slope
of the deep road cut
Watching‒
oyster shell skies
smoking‒
Lucky Strikes
smelling‒
gun oil
The 20 gauge bolt-action
Mossberg and Stevens side-by-side
cradled on our chests
Icy fingers on triggers ready
to fire when the first crows
flew over
No matter how
many times we shot
they kept the same flight path
The friend I hunted with dreamed
of becoming a game warden
ended up working in a haberdashery
I went on to college
moved away
thought I knew him
Years later I heard
one black winter morning
he hung himself
All I really know is I liked him
and he was a fine wingshot.
Jonathan Corle (Jon) is a poet and lifelong resident of Pennsylvania living in Chester County. After retirement from the financial firm he founded, Jon became an adjunct professor in the Close School of Entrepreneurship at Drexel University. His interests include reading and writing, cycling, golf, and travel with his wife, Diane.
Bindweed Magazine 