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Barb Ariel Cohen lives with her husband in the Boston area. She is a scientist and entrepreneur who also practices the complementary discipline of writing poetry. She has been published in The Penmen Review.

The Alienness of Rights in Reptile Eyes

Barb Ariel Cohen

Alone, poised, effective
Yet still as a leaf in no wind, waiting
Unseen moves elsewhere promise death
That sweeps as breezes touch all, to erase

Assertive dares become white bones
Red-speckled with triumph’s laughter
Where no whole spirit remains

Frozen seething thought
Of food, air, water
To risk a stillborn grasp
Is far too wide,
Open exposure, tired so a target

Quiet, safety, only the sound
Of heartbeats
The miracle that they persist.

— Barb Ariel Cohen

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