Southern Pastoral

A growing number of species
          have become more at risk 
for extinction in VIrginia: the box 

turtle and the big-eared bat; the black-
         banded sunfish, whole drifts of bees 
faltering under vapor clouds of insecticide; 

mussels. In the meantime, laws meant  
        to shelter the most vulnerable go
unpassed. Ships come through the harbor

weighted with machines and all kinds
       of goods; copper, rubber, marble,
silicone, wood. A woman turned away 

from the emergency room goes home   
        and sits in a bath filling with her own 
blood. Everything of importance 

seems to happen like a story 
        scribed with invisible ink. A horse
stamps its feet and neighs in a field.