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Lynn Hoggard
PRAYER
A tiny gargoyle, this squirrel
decorates the outer sill
of my upstairs window.
Not two feet from me,
he doesn’t know I’m here
as he hunches and munches
a pecan held in tiny paws,
his question-mark tail
a cipher of his mortality.
Neither does he know
I see in him a spirit
lending its wilderness
to this artifact where I live.
May his fierce force
pierce this fabricated
brick, fortify it—
make it daring, bright-eyed,
life-affirming.
About the author:
Lynn Hoggard has published eight books. Her poetry has appeared in more than one hundred peer-reviewed journals in the United States.
Image: A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98-1543). Oil on oak panel. 22 x 15.2 inches. Circa 1526-28. Public domain.
OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprint Buttonhook Press, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation supporting writers and artists worldwide.
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