He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
Psalms 27:5
a striking woodpecker,
squats on the neem,
gripping those old clotted stripes
gazes straight, eyes closed
to ignore the raven calls that distract
a week-long holing
a room of its own,
brave new world
in the stretched hand,
strong as one built on the rock
watch, it ticks,
threes and fours
twelve times
like a timeless disciple
who knocks on his master’s door
and heads in,
rewarded and crowned
like a red crossed knight
who’s home
after fighting a good fight.
Sreekanth Kopuri
Sreekanth Kopuri Ph.D. is an Indian poet from Machilipatnam. He is the Current poetry editor for The AutoEthnographer Journal Florida, and was a Professor of English at Dravidian University. He is a pushcart nominee for 2023. His poems appeared in Two Thirds North, Arkansas Review, San Antonio Review, Tulsa Review, Expanded Field to mention a few. His book Poems of the Void won the Golden Book of the year 2022.