Evening Pastoral with Bobwhite
by Annette Sisson
. . . [I]t is especially important that the bobwhite’s habitat not be too thick at ground level.
—National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
Pasture ripples with cabbage whites,
crocus moths, mockingbirds.
They frisk the air, shuttle
from fencepost to chickweed.
Switchgrass and prairie clover,
clusters of raspberries
on slender canes, pale blooms,
prickly thicket—this wild, unkempt
field invites the bobwhite to nest
on the ground. Among loose natives
she chants her name, broods in coveys,
chicks fragile as trillium—
snuffed out by thick sod,
rugs of fescue. Nearby
a gray-white yearling whinnies,
munches on forbs, strolls
to the corner trough to drink
as heat drains to evening.
Groundhogs pull up
from their portals to browse, nose
the last twitch of dusk.
Bobwhite’s low whistle
rings. Night shuts
its purple lid.
A native Hoosier, Annette Sisson has lived for many years in Nashville, TN with her partner and her soft-coated wheaten terrier. Her poems appear in The Penn Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Rust & Moth, Cider Press Review, and other journals and anthologies. Her second book, Winter Sharp with Apples, was published by Terrapin Books in 2024. Her first book, Small Fish in High Branches, was published by Glass Lyre Press in 2022, and her third book manuscript, Rhizomes and Bones, is currently seeking a publisher. In 2024 she was a finalist for the Charles Simic Poetry Prize and two poems were nominated for The Pushcart Prize; in 2025 her poems have been named finalists in River Heron Review’s and Passager Magazine’s poetry prizes, and one is nominated for The Pushcart, another for Best of the Net. You can find her on her website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.
