Poem #6: World War II and Blue Jays

He says,
“I want your essay
to put tears in my eyes”

Honestly?

I can’t write about those sorts of things
Except in my head.

It’s funny to see them together
Two feathers of opposite color
Lain in the grass,
Side by side
Like brothers
Separated by birth
And fighting A bitter end.

I take a picture
But only to capture the moment
As words can’t.

We dropped the bombs, and the war was won.
No one cared about the dead children
Lining the streets.

It lay past the bench,
Empty body frozen for months
And now picked clean,
Its heart still clinging on as if
It thought it could restart

Truman supposedly didn’t hesitate.
Did brother bird pause
Before killing his sibling?

Empty skull and bones.
Radiation poisoning and
Mushroom cloud.

They point opposite directions,
Ruby and sapphire twins
On the ground that keeps,
That nourishes skeletons
And imbibes leaves.

They are not as beautiful

We are not as beautiful

As I make you believe.

(are there tears in your eyes?
I suppose not.)