Don Farrell

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we can only watch...we don’t shoot the wounded

hard to say what day
the last oriole left. they peeter out, dwindle
down to no-more like rain drops dripping
in to a gutter the day after
a good rain. you never hear the last
plink.
you wish into the mist of morning, one
might come today. you add a little to the jelly tray.
knowing only bees will nibble it away.

your words are fading into gone
this same way. soon, no more to be
found. nothing
for us to grasp. we will be unable
to recall what your last word was.
we will be left
watching you attempt
to talk, like a horse flailing on its side,
can’t get back up.

Don Farrell’s work has appeared in more than twenty publications, including Bodega Magazine, Thimble Literary Magazine, The Orchards Poetry Journal, and other places. His first full-length collection, there are soft and beautiful things in the world…please find me, is forthcoming from Fernwood Press in 2027, and his chapbook, blastoma is being released by Finishing Line Press in 2026.