
Wild boars dashing to the end of the street, squealing
Scrub jays lost, homeless
Osprey confused, circling empty skies
Gopher tortoises, hit and run
Blood on the tarmac // Just another day in paradise
Wildlife confined to the
last token strip of woods behind
the crowning residence
at the end of the cul-de-sac
Developers’ greedy mouths
devouring the flora and fauna
for cookie cutter complexes
another subdivision of a suburban hell
Sign up front proudly proclaiming the community’s name // “The Pristine Enclave”

Jess is a writer and sketch artist. Her debut chapbook about heartbreak, let it rip, was published in 2023 (Bottlecap Press). A Musepaper.org essay prize winner, her poems, flash fiction, and essays have appeared in or are forthcoming in 34th Parallel Magazine, Mystery Tribune, and The Five-Two. Her website is www.jesschua.com

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