Donna Vorreyer
Boundaries
A squeal rises from the garden: a rabbit caught on a wire fence
while seeking a cluster of greens, the soft church of her body
trembling as she churns her legs to wrench them free.
When she escapes, she leaves behind a clump of downy coat.
Her cry was like a child’s, small yet piercing, reminding me
that I dwell forever in the country of mothers. Though my son
has aged beyond its borders, this country demands allegiance.
His need comes now through miles and screens, a call
different from the rabbit, but just as arresting. It leaves
behind its own remnants of struggle, a pain of letting go.
As a mother, this is what it means to love—brought before
Solomon, I would always choose to lose him.
The next day, the rabbit twitches its nose beneath the beans,
head crowned with pale flowers, no visible damage. The phone
in my pocket rings, and my heart catches on its fences.
This is my country. Of thee I sing.
Donna Vorreyer is the author of Unrivered (2025), To Everything There Is (2020), Every Love Story is an Apocalypse Story (2016) and A House of Many Windows (2013), all from Sundress Publications. She hosts the reading series A Hundred Pitchers of Honey and is a co-founder/editor of the new journal Asterales: A Journal of Arts & Letters.