reflex

Reflex

the shadow of a landing airliner swoops

over your car as you drive the highway

adjacent to the airport and you flinch,

duck your head, a simple reflex unleashed

by buried knowledge embedded in cells

safely preserved from the hesitation of reason,

and for that instant you have the mind of a

trout shooting for cover, fleeing a heron’s

passing shadow, between water and shadow

the certain knowledge of certain danger

declared in the sweep of wings and the

promise of the bird’s stern eye

__________

"Reflex"

appeared

in

the Fall 2006 issue of

Appalachian Journal

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