The 2River View 16.3 (Spring 2012)
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Christina Antipa

Vultures

I saw vultures playing today.
No, they were fighting.
But one wasn’t chasing
and the other wasn’t running away
and they dipped and swirled
like big black leaves.

I saw vultures play just as children do.
No, they were courting.
But one wasn’t chasing
and the other wasn’t running away.
The sky looked wet and satisfied
and desert animals printed messages in the sand
with their feet.

I saw two vultures flap lazily.
One kissed the other’s cheek
with her death-encrusted beak.
They were not in a hurry
as the sun crested on their pink heads
and made them both glisten
bright with blood.

Christina Antipa, a songwriter who lives and works in California,
has composed and recorded four albums. A poet, too, she is now editing
a collection of poems written in Seattle, Washington, from 2005 to 2007. contact

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