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A Skunk Came Tonight
Katharyn Howd Machan

We’ve had chipmunks, gray squirrels, red,
two raccoons as round as the moon,
a possum with her slim snout sniffing—
but never a skunk, this full-striped skunk!
We hadn’t yet put out the pasta
three days too old for us to eat
nor gnawed-upon hot chicken wings
we’d swirled in zesty cool blue cheese—
but suddenly clear black and white
appeared on our low backyard porch
seeking, craving sustenance
as stars began to appear and shine.
Quick now I said to my love
Let’s bring out sweet and tart.
But it was too late—the wildness fled—
and we were left alone again
with nighttime longing in our hearts.

—
Katharyn Howd Machan writes poetry and memoir on her Dragon Patio when weather allows and elsewhere when it doesn’t. As a professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College, she mentors students in fairy-tale-based creative writing courses. Her most recent publications are A Slow Bottle of Wine (The Comstock Writers, Inc., 2020) and Dark Side of the Spoon (The Moonstone Press, 2022). For spirit and body, she belly dances.

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