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.