A morsel of fallen eagle

Birds In Iraq

Few places on Earth are devoid of birds.
Their dumb wings can be seen spread against
the sky following a ship over empty parcels
of ocean, all of them lost at sea. In the most
inhospitable regions one finds talon, feather,
quill, beak, and claw. They eat everything
given them by providence or happenstance.

So as I watch a news report from Iraq,
I see birds strafe the foreground crossing
left to right before a black line of smoke
and wonder, what sparrow in Mesopotamia
has never tasted a morsel of fallen eagle?

Joseph Gallo
August 5, 2005