Poems by Lynn Domina
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Not My Real Life
by Lynn Domina
From Canary Fall 2023
Lynn lives on the shore of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, measured by surface area. Lake Superior contains 10% of the world's fresh surface water, and its underwater visibility reaches, in some spots, nearly 100 feet.
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It’s just a TV show, not my real life
when the lion thrusts its entire head
into the zebra’s carcass. The blood
looks so red, I think, because it contrasts
so vividly with black stripes, the white
belly. The lion chews patiently, licks its paw,
seems to suck at something I can’t see.
It’s the way of nature, my daughter said,
predator, prey, the powerful, the violent,
stalking like gods those of us who survive
through camouflage or armor
or our willingness
to play dead.
© Lynn Domina