Kawa-uso

by Holly Day

the otter in the

water chirps soft

in time to the movements of  its

body as it holds tight with its nails

to the rocks to keep

from being swept away by the rain.

it has made its home in

the dark corner of

the river, here, where the rocks hide

long gray crayfish

tails curled beneath their bodies as if

to hide

the parts that taste best.

_____________________________

Holly Day is a housewife and mother of two living in Minneapolis, Minnesota who teaches needlepoint classes for the Minneapolis school district and writing classes at The Loft  Literary Center. Her poetry has recently appeared in Hawai’i Pacific Review, Slant, and The Tampa Review, and she is the 2011 recipient of the Sam Ragan Poetry Prize fromBarton College. Her most recent published books are "Walking Twin Cities" and "Notenlesen für Dummies Das Pocketbuch."