Sunday, March 3, 2024 SHRIKES by Dan Sicoli
appears not to pair with
the sudden discordance of impaling prey
a dance much like our own
of mastering appetites
and misdirecting brutality
with shiny objects
that deafen
our own failing eyes
we manipulate from dark quarters
commanding terror and chaos
as a breath of tune rides our lips
yet kills displayed on thorny branches
by shrikes are not tactics
to inflict fear upon foes
but rather
taking prey for substance
like any winged raptor
still we christen it the butcher bird
as if our own inclinations
are aberrations
About the Poet
Dan Sicoli, a long-time co-editor with Slipstream Magazine and Press based in Niagara Falls, New York, is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. He has authored two poetry chapbooks, the allegories (Pudding House Publications, 2004), and Pagan Supper (Pudding House Publications, 2002).
His poems have appeared in numerous publications and outlets including I-70 Review, Abandoned Mine, Angel Rust, Book of Matches, Cape Rock, Chiron, Ethel Zine, Evening Street Review, Hobo Camp, Home Planet News, Louisiana Review, Ranger, Rye Whiskey Review, San Pedro River Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, and Sleet. On weekends he beats on an old Gibson in a local garage rock band.
Related Event
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- On March 6th at 7:30 p.m., Dan Sicoli will join poet Stephen Baraban in a Literary Café Series reading at The Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweet Home Rd. in Amherst NY. The reading is free and open to the public. The CFI Literary Café Series is curated by poet Ryki Zuckerman.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.