So Struck By, by Diana Cole

Still Life: A Dead Hare, A Dead Red-Legged Partridge and Two Dead Snipe, by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (France) 1750

So Struck By   12/14/18
after a painting, Still Life, by Jean-Baptiste Oudry and a news item

A Dead Hare, a Dead Red-legged Partridge and Two Dead Snipe,
the bird strung up, hare slumped on slate. 
He didn’t see the woman in red stockings, swiped

by a speeding car earlier that night
her skirt pulled up to her waist. 
A Dead Hare, a Dead Red-legged Partridge and Two Dead Snipe

was on his mind, each feather with a hint of light,
each barb precisely placed.
He didn’t see the woman in red stockings, swiped

like the red paint on the legs of the partridge, dried
to a dark blood stain in the still life labeled, 
A Dead Hare, a Dead Red-legged Partridge and Two Dead Snipe.

Savoring each detail — the eyes sealed sightless,
two highlights of glossy jade,
he didn’t see the woman in red stockings, swiped

but still breathing, lying there in moonlight,
a mere shadow until he felt car hit shape --
a dead hare, a partridge or two snipe?
He didn’t see the woman in red stockings, twice swiped.

Diana Cole

Diana Cole, a Pushcart Prize nominee, has had poems published in numerous journals including Poetry East, Spillway, the Tar River Review, the Cider Press Review, Friends Journal, and the Main Street Rag. Her chapbook, Songs By Heart, was published in 2018 by Iris Press. She is an editor for The Crosswinds Poetry Journal and a member of Ocean State Poets whose mission is to encourage the reading, writing and sharing of poetry.