[the Writing of Kuypers][JanetKuypers.com][Bio][Poems][Prose]


my father,
shooting an animal

we sat in our
dining room, looking out
the sliding glass doors

onto the patio, the
expanse of concrete that
led to the pool, fenced

away from the ravine.
Father had a dislocated
shoulder, his arm was

in a sling. He had
a friend’s shotgun, some
sort of instrument

and he looked out
the window, sister and I
behind him, looking

over his shoulder.
And then he saw a small
squirrel, walking

along the edge of the
patio, and father opened the
sliding glass doors

propped his gun
over his dislocated shoulder,
tried to look

through the sight and
keep the gun balanced. He
usually didn’t use

guns, he seldom
borrowed them. And here he
stood, in his own

house, aiming at the
animal at the edge of our
property, with one

good arm. And then
he shot. We all looked; the
animal, hit, stumbled

into a nearby hole.
He hit the animal, despite all
his trouble, all his pain.

People wonder why
he shot the animal. I wonder
how. Could I do it, even

with two good arms.
Could I see through the sight,
could I aim well, strike.


Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.

the book Moving Performances the book Oeuvre the book the Window the CD Moving Performances


video (1:57) 06/15/07, at Buffalo Bill’s Grave
at Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO

not yet rated Or watch the YouTube video below: