December 2022
Robina Rader
robrad21@gmail.com
Bio Note: I am a retired reference librarian. I have moved many times, living in places as distant and diverse as New Jersey and Okinawa. I now live in State College, Pennsylvania, where I write poetry and short fiction in the stimulating environment of a university town.

Sounds Like

I hadn’t seen my cousin Bill
since his heart attack, 
but we spoke on the phone one day,
and when I heard his deep resonant voice
I told him, “You sound just like your father.”
I could hear the smile in his voice
as he returned the compliment,
saying, “You sound like your mother.”

Starling

The place was overrun with starlings –
pesky, dirty, noisy things.
Time to discourage them,
get them to leave.
One way or another.

Will sat at the third-floor window
with his pellet gun, waiting.
A starling settled on a branch
of the old Red Maple, at 
just the right height.

One shot, and down it plummeted, 
but before it reached the ground,
a hawk, keen-eyed and quick,
swooped in and carried it off
without even saying
“Thanks for the lunch, Will.”
©2022 Robina Rader
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