Visions through the Raven’s Eye
i.
Arles 2069
Spiderweb rainbows
in the early dawn.
A young woman makes her way
through a field of flowers.
She scoops a web from her path,
a lock of her hair loosens
from its ribbon, reflects
the sun in palest gold.
Soldiers land on the beach.
Blackbirds lift from the fields,
giving a raucous warning.
She looks up in surprise
as they take aim and fire.
ii.
Harlem 1955
A man and a dog
run down an alley
gunshots
the man stumbles,
his dog stops, looks back
as his master falls
a flashlight catches its eyes
one more bullet –
ravens on the wires,
a necklace of black stones,
portents of a coming storm.
iii.
London 1942
A child runs half naked
from a smoking building,
blood on his hands and shirt.
The flash of a camera
captures his silenced scream
just as he’s blown apart.
In the photograph,
the smoke spumes upward
from his open mouth
making his last breath
as a flight of dark birds.
i.
Arles 2069
Spiderweb rainbows
in the early dawn.
A young woman makes her way
through a field of flowers.
She scoops a web from her path,
a lock of her hair loosens
from its ribbon, reflects
the sun in palest gold.
Soldiers land on the beach.
Blackbirds lift from the fields,
giving a raucous warning.
She looks up in surprise
as they take aim and fire.
ii.
Harlem 1955
A man and a dog
run down an alley
gunshots
the man stumbles,
his dog stops, looks back
as his master falls
a flashlight catches its eyes
one more bullet –
ravens on the wires,
a necklace of black stones,
portents of a coming storm.
iii.
London 1942
A child runs half naked
from a smoking building,
blood on his hands and shirt.
The flash of a camera
captures his silenced scream
just as he’s blown apart.
In the photograph,
the smoke spumes upward
from his open mouth
making his last breath
as a flight of dark birds.