The hooting begins about ten thirty, 
our backyard bachelor chanting the standard 
“who cooks for me, who cooks for me” then 
ascending into a waterfall of “who ha has” 
that sound like nothing so much 
as an angry chimpanzee on Wild Kingdom. 
A second bird flies in 
on inaudible wings, and suddenly voices 
braid, tight as half-inch nylon 
rope, and it’s clear why so many cultures 
deem these alien fricative desires as 
harbingers of doom; snake eyes falling 
on some winter solstice night. 

But my first thought is, 
the old boy finally got lucky. 

Gary Grossman,

Professor Emeritus of Ecology at University of Georgia, has poetry published in 38 literary reviews, creative nonfiction in Tamarind Literary Magazine, and flash fiction and poetry in MacQueen’s Quinterly, which nominated his microfiction “Mindfulness” for the Best Small Fictions 2023 anthology.

For 10 years Gary wrote the “Ask Dr. Trout” column for American Angler. His first poetry book, Lyrical Years, is available from Kelsay Press, and his second, What I Meant to Say Was..., will be released by Impspired Press (~December 2023). His graphic novel My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey is available from: http://www.garygrossman.net/my-life-in-fish-one-scientists-journey/

Author’s website: www.garygrossman.net

And his writing blog: https://garydavidgrossman.medium.com/