Jess Chua | Make Way for More

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