Standing Rock
BY JOHN DAVIS.
What will coyotes do without
water—howl while crude fracking
flows under the river, spills
into back eddies, swills, singes
the creeks? How will the sturgeon
armored with bony plates, swim
in the black mass? How will white
bass fight the current and fill
themselves with plankton and fleas
when now bees above basins
drown as armored trucks grind gears
and the rubber bullets sting?
John Davis is the author of two collections, Gigs and The Reservist. His work has appeared recently in DMQ Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, One and Rio Grande Review. He moonlights in blues and rock and roll bands.