New Bone Fear | Rhony Bhopla
A chirping, then
the beak
of a mourning dove
stuffed, muted
at the first
daily police siren.
The neighbor’s dog
wails crescentic urgency,
I hallucinate
warning sounds
before a voice
from a chopper
takes the place
of flocks.
Stephon Clark’s
final breath
expired some miles away—
there, I see
my question
mark on 29th.
No words. No answers.
Just my daily
new bone fear.
Construction cones
decorate
around new asphalt,
and accurate lights
and crosswalks
with mechanical
chirping sounds
—his new Meadowview.
About the Author:
Rhony Bhopla is a poet and visual artist. Her poems and book reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Notre Dame Review, Cherry Moon: Emerging Voices from the Asian Diaspora, Northwest Review, and Harvard Review. She is a 2019 Rooted and Written Fellow and a member of the Mapmakers Alumni Institute. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Pacific University.