Wild Kingdom

I don’t need the eye
of a hyena to know

what comes next
I’ve lived the future

so many times now
seen its lithe limbs

and capable mind
dragged down in

slow motion and
devoured by loss

over and over
if you handed me

its eye stone on a platter
I swear I wouldn’t

put it under my tongue
for love or money

and I would never speak
and I won’t not about

what might come next
this wild kingdom

be damned I am done
with looking forward

Note: According to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, in some ancient cultures the hyena’s eyes were believed to contain a stone, which, if placed underneath the tongue, enabled a person to prophesize the future.

Author of the article

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer is an award-winning disabled author of books for children and adults. His first book, The Outsider, which takes as its subject his late father's struggles with schizophrenia and homelessness, was published by Broadway Books. Nathaniel has forthcoming/recently published poems with North Dakota Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, Red Rock Review, About Place Journal, F(r)iction, Santa Clara Review, Epiphany, and DIAGRAM. Nathaniel lives outside Atlanta with his family. Read more at NathanielLachenmeyer.com.