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This poem is from the final work of poet Ruth McArthur entitled Neighborhood Watch (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://finishinglinepress.com/product/neighborhood-watch-by-ruth-mcarthur/
Ruth McArthur’s work has appeared in Blue Heron Review, Ocotillo Review, Voices de la Luna and Underwood Press. Her first poetry collection, Persistence, is available on Amazon. Ruth McArthur was a mother, grannie, and writer who passed away in September 2025. As a certified Texas Master Naturalist, (Hill Country Chapter, 2008) she became interested in birds and birding. Most importantly, as a naturalist, her eyes were opened to what was right in front of her. Ruth and her husband, Craig, lived for over 20 years along a creek outside a small town outside San Antonio. The property was under a Wildlife Management Valuation, which Ruth administered. Projects included managing the native but invasive Ashe juniper, urging old agricultural fields to become prairies once again, caring for the riparian zones, and managing habitat for deer and songbirds. In 2020, Ruth and Craig moved to Boston—a few blocks from her daughter’s family. It was from this move that her final collection, Neighborhood Watch, was born. If you asked Ruth, she would have told you that her greatest accomplishment as an author was that her young grandson once chose a warty pumpkin for Halloween simply because she once wrote a book for him, Bumpy Pumpkin. https://www.instagram.com/ruthmcarthur_author/
The Paddock Review 