To Vermin

Keep multiplying,
species of least concern,
you the pesky, the ornery, the treyf,
gulls who make the parking lot a sea,
Canada geese, with your pink-tongued hisses
and campus-covering shit,
tularemic cottontails in the hood
of the neighbor’s rusty Mazda,
stoats and coyotes, rug-quiet
raiders of the coop, the cooler, the koi pond,
fence funambulists,
oh possum, oh squirrel, drink deep
of the honey mustard packet, emerge
triumphant from the dumpster,
and grapple
up the impossible walls
between our words
and your numbers.

James Davis is the author of the poetry collection Club Q, which won the 2020 Anthony Hecht Prize. His work has been featured on CBC Radio and NBC News, as well as in Best New Poets, Bennington Review, Copper Nickel, The Gay & Lesbian Review, 32 Poems, and other literary journals. A PhD student at the University of North Texas, he serves as Poetry Editor for American Literary Review and an Associate Poetry Editor for Narrative Magazine. His website is jamesdavispoet.com.

Published April 15 2023