It Didn’t Sound Political
a song
You hear them first, far overhead,
Their eerie cry, last heard, first dead.
Our squabbling may mask their cry,
So stop the fighting, run or fly!
They seek the small ones on the wing,
The furry ones–any small thing,
Or sometimes even bigger prey.
I’ve seen them carry squirrels away.
I once stood in my garden space,
A peaceful, gentle, pretty place,
When suddenly went flashing by
A hawk — her prey too stunned to cry.
I’ve also seen — terrible sight! —
A struggling chipmunk taking flight.
In redtail’s claws, he chirped his fear;
It made the truth of nature clear:
We often choose to close our eyes
To that which threatens most our lives;
Pretending harshness isn’t there
Does nothing to remove its snares.
Our bodies can become a cage
Because of sickness or just age,
But human evil’s harder yet
To understand or to forget.
Pretending and closing our eyes
To the need for compromise
Won’t make evil go away –
It circles now. Vote it away!
