DESERT OVERRIDE (Poetry by Sarp Sozdinler)

 

DESERT OVERRIDE

In the Mojave, coyotes vanish in the daytime. 

I wonder where they hide from the heat.

 

Across the border, a man dreams that 

the jackrabbits are stealing his truck, 

ears flopping as they floor it down the highway.

 

And here, under a slivered moon, 

I scan the dry hills for the return 

of the night hawks, swooping low 

to drink the desert air.

A Turkish writer, Sarp Sozdinler has been published in Electric Literature, Kenyon Review, Masters Review,​ Trampset, JMWW, and Normal School, among other journals. Their work has been selected or nominated for anthologies including the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Wigleaf Top 50. They are currently working on their first novel in Philadelphia and Amsterdam.