Poem: Turkey Vultures Flew Over America

Monday, 18 October 2004, 12:13 am
Opinion: Genevieve Cora Fraser

Turkey Vultures Flew Over America

By Genevieve Cora Fraser

Grey rolled into light grey against dark grey
Clouds flew the turkey vultures circling round
Down gliding onto the black tarp of the landfill
Liner secured to a safety mat of impervious
Clay covered with the daily refuse of life
In these United States as the suicide bombers
Transgressed the green line in Bagdad to embrace
Death the black tarp spread a protective barrier
Below a marsh's subtle pulse cast a still life
Portrait of reeds greens and purples and golds
A reflective shimmer of the standing swamp
Water nurturing all creatures who dwelled within
Red maples rooted along the banks cast a canopy
Vibrant colors as a crowd of crows flew cawing
In a rush to unsettle the buzzards picking scraps
Of last night's dinner eaten while the TV blared
Explosions and beheading and unprotected refuse
Spilling onto the nightmare vision of unrelenting
War the unprotected environment of a living hell

*** ENDS ***

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