MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentor Commentary
Ali Black

Recipient Reflection
Laura Maloney

An Unhinged Jaw

Poetry by ​Laura Maloney

​In its unhinged jaw,
the slate gray snake

holds the brindled toad
struggling to swallow
 
what it cannot. The frog,
chirping, seems resigned,
 
front legs pressing against
the snake’s slit eyes.
 
It is a task one part
craft, the other art.

One-part heart
the other head.

One-part rhythm
another writhe.

One-part hiss
another tremble.
 
One-part slither
another leap.
 
This hybrid species—
hunger and fight,
​
fangs and tongue
and song. 

Laura Maloney

Laura Maloney lives in Madison, Mississippi, with her husband and children. She holds an MA in Spanish from Middlebury College and is currently studying with the poet Jon Davis. This is her first published poem.