Poetry
SUMMER 2025Ritual
by LAURA MCCOY
a mourning dove
hits the window
leaves
her laced imprint
long wisps
of wings
the rain
runs down the glass
shrouds her
as if small, wet
white violets
linger
a body
a hawk
carries away
most of
and then
almost nothing
the wind
in the morning
dries, scatters
the feathers
bit by bit
spread across the ground
Laura McCoy
Laura McCoy lives on the Rensselaer Plateau in New York State. She writes to understand why we as people have removed ourselves from the world we live on, how we can find our way back to belonging, and if, once found, reunification is still possible. Her most recent poems were published in a NatureCulture Writing the Land anthology, a collaboration between poets, artists, and protected lands in Rensselaer County. She is a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts.