Annette Sisson

Butterfly Effect

On the Indian subcontinent, veterinarians

recommend diclofenac for cows

with tender udders, sheep with feet scald,

goats with soft tissue tears. The treated

herds mend, die natural deaths. Vultures

scavenge, their population drains away

under a Blood Moon—kidneys destroyed

by traces of drug. Without birds of prey,

carcasses rot in fields. Bacteria surges,

taints water supplies. Packs of feral dogs

rove, rabies spikes, unravels nervous

systems. Orthodox Parsis pursue sky burial,

but too few buzzards remain to strip

the corpses resting in silent towers. A half

million skeletons to process. Pestilence

cycles across arid landscapes, spirals

like a double helix, swirling galaxies of dust.

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Image by Remi Clinton from Unsplash

Annette Sisson’s 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.

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