Just Hungry from Porcelain Country by bulkington

The hawk that lives with me
Gets high most every night.
He sleeps and eats -
Calls me uptight.

He scares off all the mice
That sit around my fire.
We don’t like his style -
His hungry eyes.

He says he sees it all,
Despite being so high,
From a branch straight out.
He smokes and pouts.

I only ever work,
Fluorescent lights and books,
So I don’t have time
To get that high.

But sometimes when I’m alone
He sits behind me, stoned.
He spreads his six-foot span
Around my shoulders, thin.

Me and all my mice
We’ve tried to kick him out.
It does not go well -
Hawks are killers, man.

He watches from his branch
And waits to take my food.
He eats my mice
And kills my booze.

The hawk that lives with me
Gets high most every night.
He keeps me up -
All rage and noise.

Sometimes I just don’t fight.
He’ll dance me through the night.
He dreams me full awake.
We swing and dance and sway.

He pulls me fast outside,
Prays me inhale sky,
He lends me both his eyes
To see:
He’s hungry.
Just hungry.

• Folk
• Chattanooga