Unlike fetal mice, naked and blind,
these tiny frogs, all throat and legs,
could hop and, for a time, avoid
the unhinged jaw making space for them.
But with the tank’s glass walls impenetrable
and the ceiling too high to leap,
they ran out of room to hide, soon
became nothing but squirming angles pushing
from the inside, witnessed by a child,
under the snake’s shining skin, still breathing.
practices poetry, photography, and pet maintenance, and publishes an occasional anthology through Kingly Street Press which she founded in 2019. In her spare time she works as a substitute teacher and proctors exams. She is the author of Alinea (Picture Show Press), and co-author with Alan Walowitz of In the Muddle of the Night (Arroyo Seco Press).
In 2020, one of Betsy’s poems was selected as a winner in Alexandria Quarterly’s first line poetry contest series. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, including most recently, One Art, Sky Island Journal, Sheila-Na-Gig, and Autumn Sky. She is a Best of the Net nominee, and her photos have been featured in various journals including Rattle and Spank the Carp.
