The Barred Owl

Poetry
Written By Joshua Wait

by Buffy Aakaash

Four AM: Hoot owl came.
Who sang and wouldn’t stop.
Outside my window.
Who wouldn’t stop.

Was it someone dead I knew?
Who wouldn’t. Stop.
So who are you?
There on the treetop?

You say who am I?
Right, who am I?
This body. This life.
I won’t survive.

Yet look, look at you.
Potent, renewed.
Immortal, prepossessed.
Unbound.

Can’t I be you?
Misunderstood.
Unaware of. Stop.
Who won’t ever stop.

Not even when I.

Stop.

Buffy Aakaash lived in rural queer communes and big cities across the US before settling in Vermont, where he finds solace in nature, inspiration from people, and company from his dog, Bodhi. He serves on the Board of the Poetry Society of Vermont, and has poems in Main Street Rag, The Brussels Review, and The North, among others. His chapbook Untangling the Knots was published in 2022, a full volume called Breaking in late 2025. BuffyAakaashPoetry.com Instagram: @buffyaakaash

Joshua Wait

Joshua Wait studied English at UC Berkeley. He wrote his undergraduate thesis on the relationship between art and poetry in the New York School. He received a Masters in Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has served in programs for children, youth, and college students, in an organization addressing climate change, and in the tech industry as a CTO. He currently divides his time between his family and his artistic practice.

https://www.bluerivers.org
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