What you thought
was an eagle
was a vulture
a common mistake
I think
No matter
they all eat meat
no vegetarians
these birds of prey
no vegetarians, they
But we, the spirits
out of mind
don’t spend our moments
in thoughts unkind
We are but gods
with no pretense
who wish the world
none but the best
Half of your flipped truck
reclines within the border.
I watch sun lift
the hem of the barbwire skirt,
sniff at your merchandise.
We shall be late to
clear the vigilantes, bro.
We shall spend cold
in the cave of night all darkness, waiting.
You light up the pipe of talk.
Peace, I say to the circling eagle.
It’s not the net-surfing for cheap flights,
the hoarding of air miles.It’s not the shopping
around for good euro deals, or filling cases
with new clothes for a week’s break.
It’s not the duty free booze or the greed
-grabbed cigarettes, addiction on the cheap.
It’s not the stroll through Border Control,
waving maroon passports. No.
The thing that gets me is the five thousand
rescued last weekend, the six hundred drowned
this year. Numbers, more numbers. Eight hundred
euros for a privileged space in a boat
that darkness-drifts the Med. Good weather’s a lure
for tourists, a bonus to traffickers. The desperate
assured of safe passage in flimsy dingies. Cloud high,
seat belts are fastened ready for landing.
reubenwoolley 