Rock Creek

By Lindsay Ahl

A ghost, a semblance, a fugitive
          circles the camp. The fire
smolders;

          no one speaks. The pack calls to her.

She circles us, just like the tall pines
          the stars          the night
one breath of unconsuming fire,

          as close as you'll ever get.

The coyote walks, hidden and revealed
          the same as the fire
she takes up     all     the space.

Lindsay Ahl's work has appeared in BOMB Magazine, From the Fishouse Anthology, Red Line Blues, Drunken Boat, Fiction Magazine, Global City Review, Murmur, The Brooklyn Rail, and others. She also has a novel out with Coffee House Press called Desire.