Hunger

1 Minute Read Time

The hawk is circling a sky the color of wet newspapers. All over 
town the goldenrod is going to seed, and the bees turn lazy with 
the lack of flowers. Even so the hunger persists. Look around. The 
nests in the trees are suddenly obvious. The sand confirms the 
animals. I think of you not thinking of me. I find the last good 
berry in the center of a bush. The hawk is farther off now, but the 
river keeps sliding through the middle of this field, draining a place 
that is somewhere full.

Charles Rafferty

Charles Rafferty is the author of four collections of poetry: The Man on the Tower (winner of the Arkansas Poetry Award – University of Arkansas Press, 1995), Where the Glories of April Lead (Mitki/Mitki Press, 2001), During the Beauty Shortage (M2 Press, 2005), and A Less Fabulous Infinity (Louisiana University Press, 2006). He has placed poems in hundreds of journals, among them The Southern Review, TriQuarterly, Quarterly West, Poetry East, Connecticut Review, Massachusetts Review, and DoubleTake. His work has also appeared in four chapbooks and in several anthologies. He currently teaches at Albertus Magnus College and in the MFA program at Western Connecticut State University. By day, he works as an editor for a technology consulting firm. He lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, with his wife and two daughters.

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