The day the fox staggered into the barn
my father didn’t own a gun,
his whole life, a pacifist, with no desire
to harm, or hunt, or defend with force.
At the time, I saw this as a failure of
character, as a listless boat floating
without hope of shore, hated his inability
to kill, to watch his entire barn infected,
months of quarantine, the durocs fattening
to a measure that made them a loss,
their feed exceeding pork prices,
until winter’s claim, the puddles froze
like stained glass that we stomped,
slaughterhouse scene, Carracci’s butchery,
hung from hooves like neckties,
neck-slit during their exasperated culling.
— ART MOORE
Gerald Arthur (Art) Moore is an adventurer, part-time university lecturer, high school teacher, and a rugby coach living in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. His newest book is titled Flak Jacket. His work has appeared in many journals. Moore has led six humanitarian work projects to Haiti since the devastating earthquake there in 2010. His employment history includes army officer and vintner.