the first
crow braves the
guts pile

the stillness
penetrated
by the shot

utter stillness

from behind the hunter
a deer snorts

the buck pauses

under the empty tree stand
broadside

Thanksgiving
crows at the gut pile
enjoy their feast

deer opener
the distant sound of
geese honking

flight birds
just as quickly they
are          gone

first snow -
in the blind a box of
powdered donuts

roadside trucks
sprouting up everywhere -
bow season

sunny side up -
the waitress's smile as she
takes my order

3:30 am -
duck hunters drink coffee at
the all-night diner

Ohio Turnpike -
deer marked with orange
traffic cones

dead grouse
on the side of the road
- north country

town clerk -
carefully describing the
buck in her yard

September
the butcher orders
a new knife

early morning
the deer walks past targets
at the gun range

carrion beetles
inside the deer skull
- spring cleaning

in lush spring grass
a woodchuck chews deliberately
away from the house
where on a shelf a copy of Walden
sits unopened and unread

faded target
on the rifle range frame
--winter's end

day's end --
retracing my footprints
in the snow

the blood trail
ending at the water's edge -
gutshot deer

after the kill
bloody fingerprints
on the antlers

predawn stillness
in the distance . . . that first
turkey gobble

geese coming
in low over the treetops
. . . take 'em

off season
window shopping for a new
pickup truck

the ribs
of the deer
in spring

first robins -
up in the pastures
woodcock

March twilight
sniffing around the hen house
the first fox of spring

evening sun
somewhere in the brush
a woodcock peents

a rope dangles
from an empty tree stand -
spring woods

season's end -
in the Penny Saver
guns for sale