"purple dusk" by Susan Solomon

Turkey Hen

​shakes her great body, 
releases a storm of dust,
a storm of mites. Thistle 
petals crimpled to dust

whirr from her orbit, 
float, then fall
to whacked reeds 
and bramble, fall

though it is spring and she 
must find a mate and call,
the rhythmed ritual, the solo 
rumba, the primal call

of spring's dilapidated liturgy, 
the slightly lush
shake, step, scurry into green 
beyond the lush

and pungent shoot-thick margin, 
into the ziggy branch
of river where warblers, 
sparrows, finches leap branch

to crotch, camouflage 
dense and hunger close
until sunset when the hen 
tucks warm, her eyes close,

she hunkers down 
to wait out the moon.
The river beyond slips
silent, slips past the moon.

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Athena Kildegaard is the author of three books of poetry. Her poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Grist, Barn Owl Review, Blue Earth Review, Zone 3, and elsewhere. She lives and teaches in Morris, Minnesota.

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​Susan Solomon is a freelance painter living in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also edits and cartoons Sleet Magazine, an online literary journal. Susan was recently laid off from her medical office job after 11 years and is now happily painting full time. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the same school that claims David Lynch as an alumni. To view more paintings, please visit www.susansolomonpainter.com