‘What Happens Now?’ by Mark Jackley

My great-grandfather spoke those words in 1947,

when my great-grandmother died of a heart attack.

I may have found the answer in seven or eight wild turkeys

buffeted this morning by the April breeze,

their normal herky-jerky now a demonic dance,

complete with ruffled feathers, Tina Turner hair,

possibly a faithful execution of the wind’s

curious instructions. What happens now? Yes.

Mark Jackley lives in Purcellville, VA. His poems have appeared in Sugar House Review, The Cape Rock, Talking River, and other journals.