qarrtsiluni

by Christi Krug

Busy and determined suburbanites
never bother to ask permission;
go about their projects without a word,
building up and tearing down.

They quarrel in full view of the neighbors:
self-satisfied, dirt-digging, nut-grubbing
low-to-the-ground
except when clawing their way up.

They take what’s not for them.
Scurrilous chitterers,
they have no shame.
We avoid getting too close: disease is an issue.
And at a certain range we might see their scars.

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Christi Krug’s poetry has appeared in print and online in The Fossil Record, sixlittlethings, the Aroostook Review, Salal Journal, Umbrella, and Bumbershoot. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in qarrtsiluni, VoiceCatcher, Halfway Down the Stairs, Colored Chalk, sub-scribe, Defenestration and elsewhere. Awards include Inscape Best of Nonfiction, Whidbey Island Poetry, and Oregon Christian Writers Fiction. Christi teaches beginning writers at Clark College and independently as a writing coach. Visit ChristiKrug.net to learn more.