Turkey Vultures by Nick Conrad

Turkey Vultures

Somehow overnight they have returned to their favorite tree, which each year seems to welcome a few more of these white

knuckled sleepers. Culinary coroners, they huddle at dusk round road kill. Gimlet eyed, they dine on spleen, pick clean

even the spine. Their shadows haunt blue sky days. Kite-like, they ride the thermals, eyeing all the while each patient’s progress. Nick Conrad