Janet Barry

Tricks Man comes
with lies on his feet,
he is naming all the babies,
telling all the stories,

word play stories,
word play tricks

in Tricks Man’s mouth —

Mother Coyote, feed your babies
from the rubbish bin —

Father Fox,
lie down hungry —

the chickens all live
in Lie Down House,
Assembly Line House,

the eggs all tumble
to Tricks Man’s mouth,

for he is eating all the babies, swallowing
all the green-grass tell-tale stories,

and Caw, Caw, Caw,

no-one left but Old Man Crow,
Caw, Caw laughing,
          laughing.

JANET BARRY is a musician and poet with works in numerous journals and anthologies, most recently Looseleaf Tea, Two Hawks Quarterly, Edge and The Fourth River. She serves yearly as a judge for Poetry Out Loud, and has received several Pushcart and a Best of the Net nomination. Janet holds degrees in organ performance and poetry. To see more of her work, please visit jbarrypoetry.com