Breath & Shadow
October 2026 - Vol. 23, Issue 5
"for a second I forget we are in the same world"
written by
Josie Levin
Originally published in Denver Quarterly Vol 58.3
we come over the hill and the trees turn us back
and my brother turns a pack animal with his wet nose
he starts to shake in the nostrils, square in the
shoulders, paw the car floor with his webbed toes
when he can speak, he says it is not the size
or dying, or the wilderness we have known before
bison cannot speak like us so
cannot be blamed like us,
if for the first time, there are many of them
and few of us
in the second heatwave of late winter
they have learned a better way to preserve
the herd does not move from the open field
because it is in front of our rental cabin
they do not move to kill us
the whole week we are there,
he says it’s not the animals it’s the eyes on those
animals with a clear shot
to where we sleep
Josie Levin (she/him) is a Chicago based writer and artist. His work has appeared in a variety of publications including Scarlet, NECKSNAP, and carte blanche. Josie is currently a Poet-In-Residence at The Chicago Poetry Center and an ARC Reader at Lit Fox Books. You can find out more about Josie on Instagram @bemusual.