07-01-2014, 06:51 PM
We should.
Shoot the magpie for his sins; jealous, but he loves to kill
and leave the dead in disarray, splayed out like fallen, broken stars.
We can.
Shoot the sparrow for his trust, that small and close is just enough
to justify the spill of blood, the flying puff of feathered death.
We must.
Shoot the heron for his greed, that by his end we see ourselves
as saviours of a silent class; protection is proclaimed our aim.
We do.
Shoot the grouse that lifts and wheels across the barren places where
but for our god-like wild inserts, he would be of no value there.
Shoot the eagle and the owl, the kestrel, kite and flight-shy snipe,
the crow and rook, the duck and gull and all the gloried glut of life.
But leave alone the simple man, who tied to earth exists upon
a patch of soil, his own true land, his blessed plot from time secured;
and let him keep and save himself, and guard his world against the rest
by every means. For that is what a man should do, can do, must do...
and does.
tectak
2014
Shoot the magpie for his sins; jealous, but he loves to kill
and leave the dead in disarray, splayed out like fallen, broken stars.
We can.
Shoot the sparrow for his trust, that small and close is just enough
to justify the spill of blood, the flying puff of feathered death.
We must.
Shoot the heron for his greed, that by his end we see ourselves
as saviours of a silent class; protection is proclaimed our aim.
We do.
Shoot the grouse that lifts and wheels across the barren places where
but for our god-like wild inserts, he would be of no value there.
Shoot the eagle and the owl, the kestrel, kite and flight-shy snipe,
the crow and rook, the duck and gull and all the gloried glut of life.
But leave alone the simple man, who tied to earth exists upon
a patch of soil, his own true land, his blessed plot from time secured;
and let him keep and save himself, and guard his world against the rest
by every means. For that is what a man should do, can do, must do...
and does.
tectak
2014