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Predators
Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb

They stalk us quietly,

a small herd of antelope

on the other side

of melted-ice-cream 

hills. I see them 

moving parallel, cautious 

shadows on rock and sage.

 

While his harem lags

behind, the lone buck 

stops, shows himself, 

his tan and white profile 

standing still, head turning,

dark eyes intense, snout 

sniffing, trying to sense

our intention.

 

We are only a pack 

of two, outnumbered, 

hunting fossils

in the badlands.

It takes only our one

sudden mock approach

to set the dust flying

and the crisp sound 

of swift hooves fading.

Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb’s work has appeared in many publications, including Depth Insights Journal, Watershed Review, Foliate Oak, Conium Review, Twisted Vine Literary Arts Journal, Aji Magazine, Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built and Natural Environments, SLAB: A Literary Magazine, Kudzu House Quarterly, Caesura, the anthology Talking Back and Looking Forward: An Educational Revolution in Poetry and Prose (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group), and others, with work forthcoming in Weber—The Contemporary West, Green Hills Literary Lantern, and others. In addition to past Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations, her work received recent Honorable Mentions in 2016 from both Port Yonder Press and Erbacce Press. She has been an educator, a researcher, and an editor, and is co-founder of Native West Press, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit natural history press. 

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