And I Am Next of Kin

Abstract

And I Am Next of Kin Sue Churchill (bio) After Samuel Taylor Coleridge Gotta be bad karma—them, on the job, the roadwithout shoulders—them,straddling the entrails, setting to. Not so bad, maybeif I'd done it on purpose,but I veered, went wide.The bird did, too. A big black vulturehad shown up in my poemthat very morning—what message was I receiving as the bird popped offmy right front headlight,flopped into the ditch?Some albatross for my neck. Some new albatross.Some noose waiting. What had I done, pulling these birds, a something in the sky, into my poem-path? Same stretch of road,another weary day,my weary, wary eye.I top the ridge at fifty: [End Page 106] on my left a house, on my righttwo kids at a mailbox:sister, little brother.They watch, they know, they wait— her hand a caution at his chest,his arms clasped round a . . .package? backpack? A heavy bulge.To get past, I accelerate, but as I pull even,it tears loose, flingsitself—a cat—I brake.I swerve. My eyes shut with dread, but I see the boy'seyes seeing—the boy,the boy . . . the boydoes not bolt. The car shudders forward.The cat, big-shoulderedas if winged, boundsbeyond, and is on the other side, and I am onthe other side. We are allon the other side of the thingthat did not happen. [End Page 107] Sue Churchill A former teacher, Sue Churchill currently works in farming, managing a farm and raising a flock of sheep in Woodford County, Kentucky. She grew up in Breckinridge County, and her work is strongly influenced by the rural setting of her life, past and present. Copyright © 2022 Berea College ...