Kipp De Man

Praying For A White Hyena

Kipp De Man

Praying
For A
White Hyena

            Believe me: I was fourteen and slammed
inside a safari van, clad in a red soccer jersey
 
            clinging to my neck and torso, tight in the 
sunlight of the Masai Mara unfurling like 
 
            magazine pictures, the textures of which 
I carried with me: faces and bodies, 
 
            spotted fur, tufty mane and round black eyes.
Desert dog, femur-breaker—an inspiration,
 
            believe me: I was fourteen, and slammed inside 
myself; I knew only how to ask for signs, for a 
 
            naked morning and the light with which to see 
some creature in the mirror becoming me: 
 
desert dog, femur-breaker—I was only fourteen.

Kipp De Man was born and raised in Rockford, Michigan, but currently resides in St. Louis. His work has been previously published by Hidden Peak Press, Dialogue and Voices, and he received an honorable mention in the 2021 Dyers-Ives Poetry Competition.

   Featured in:

Red Rock Review

Issue 54

 

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