Forty-Two Days Until the Election

Drowsy from inhaling the sharp September sun,

I nearly forget what is happening beyond my porch—

even as it persists like the hum of a low flying plane circling

over and over. Or the abundance of insects teasing the air.

Last night, I mistook a human call for an owl’s. 

Confused the international space station for a shooting star.

Recently I watched a mother bear and her cubs

pilfer a trash can before catching my scent, scurrying off.

My sister says It is hard work, being human.

But I think humans are hard work for the bears

and the migrating birds dodging our empty office towers.

When a flag-flying pickup rumbles past, 

I realize I’ve been holding my breath, again.

–

Heidi Seaborn is Executive Editor of The Adroit Journal and winner of The Missouri Review Editors Prize in Poetry. She’s authored three award-winning books/chapbooks of poetry. Heidi holds an MFA from New York University.