Is it real? by David Ferland

David Ferland earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Colorado State University. Since then, he has baked bagels, driven the bookmobile and currently teaches orientation and mobility to people who are blind. Throughout, he has continued to write poetry and fiction. He lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Is it real?

my son asks
as the pandemic nears

of the bald eagle
perched on the apple tree

chewing the fat with our
Sasquatch scarecrow

Are you real?

Are you?

from the kitchen window
they’re both real enough—

Scavenger mascot of the land
of the free

Simian nomad out by the
woodshed

they whisper together
comparing notes

things may improve for them