Poems by Faith Van De Putte
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Slaughter
by Faith Van De Putte
From Canary Fall 2022
Faith tends pasture, gardens, marsh, and second growth Douglas fir forest on Midnight’s Farm smack dab in the middle of Lopez island in the San Juan archipelago surrounded by the currents of the Salish Sea.
After cleaning up,
when I was coming in to make dinner,
the flock of mallards on the marsh
rose together, arching across the sunset,
only to land again
with much scolding and worry.
Overhead an eagle,
with talons lowered,
swooped down
graceful, silent, and intent.
It is so easy to identify with the ducks,
fleeing the predator
but I know that today
I am more aligned with eagle.
There is blood on the driveway,
in the grass, on my pants and hands.
We fed the seven pigs their last breakfast
and then ushered them one by one into the chute.
It is fast,
how life ends.
I held a tub under each neck
and caught the last heartbeats of blood.
Startlingly red.
© Faith Van De Putte