the owl makes a hollow sound
opens a hole in the dark air
oh I want to go in there
wrap me in soft feathered howl
while the night wind blows
and gusts and whirls its spinning faster
gnawing debris in the shattered air–
let it all blow to glory! I’ll hide
in quiet weaving dreams of elsewhere
but I mistrust the allure of any refuge
from the whole world’s disaster
and the owl has flown and the wind
is loud and mean and not
my master
Kyla Houbolt lives and writes in Gastonia, NC. Some of her work can be found in Black Bough Poetry, Juke Joint Magazine, Barren Magazine, forthcoming in Mojave Heart Review, The Hellebore, and others. Kyla can most often be found staring off into space, or preferably into the treetops if there are any around. You can follow her on Twitter @luaz_poet.
Owl Nebula illustration by C.B. Auder (magazine collage, 9-1/2 x 7 inches).
Claw & Blossom 