In Preparation for the Hunt

by Bethany W Pope

Picture me waiting
in the nook by the window,
long skirt spread out, falling
red and wet-looking against

the strong curve of my legs,
the material, rich as arterial
blood, scrounged from a curtain,
concealing my calves as a sheath

hides a blade. And I, sitting there,
coiled, for you. Holding that feather
that I found in the woods, the
pinion that fell from some

brown-streaked hawk,
brushing that keen edge against my lips
in anticipation of the softness of your flesh.
picture this and know that,

though I’m hooded now, by the long
shadows of the eaves, when you come for
me in sunlight, crossing
plain across that barren field,

the feather will fall,
my feet will fly,
and my arms will cross tight
around your white neck.

###
Bethany W Pope is an award winning author of the LBA, and a finalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Awards. She received her PhD from Aberystwyth University’s Creative Writing program. Her work has appeared in: Anon, Art Times, Ampersand, Blue Tattoo, De/Tached (Parthian), The Writer’s Hub, New Welsh Review and her work is due to appear in the next issues of Planet, Poetry Review Salzburg, Tears in the Fence and Anon. Her first poetry collection, A Radiance was published by Cultured Llama Press in June. Her second collection, Persephone in the Underworld has been accepted by Rufus Books and shall be released in 2016.