‘Natura Naturans’ and Other Poetry by Terry Norton

Natura Naturans

“Off with their heads,” the Red Queen said.
But she was mostly talk.
A true decapitator is
The little sharp-shin hawk.

I saw one once, a blue-bolt shot,
To seize a thrush in flight,
Then with steel talons pluck the head
And calmly take a bite.

True Worth

Homeless, he lived beneath an overpass.
Now dead, he rivals Gates and Bezos’ class.

Terry L. Norton is professor emeritus of literacy education at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he taught courses in literature for children and young adults. Publications include the following books: Cooking with Mother Goose, 50 Literacy Strategies for Beginning Teachers K-8, and Cherokee Myths and Legends: Thirty Tales Retold.