Mourning Doves

lord god

why have we

forsaken thee

your will

untwines the meadows

your breath

unspools creation

and still

the whisper

of your voice

is faint

the light at

the end of

our dominion

dim

                  *

everywhere evil and

abomination

diesel smoke

from rusted engines

soot billowing

from exploding munitions

colors the wind

                  *

it is as if we were

mourning doves

blinded by a few seeds

scattered as an afterthought

on a manicured walk

last to fly

when birds should flee

first to be dismembered

by the beaks and claws of hawks

                  *

beneath the

floating pyramid and

haunting eye

satan manifest

has signed

the bill of our attainder

a gunshot cracks

in washington square park

pigeons on thrashing wings

in unison flush up

a few feet into the laden air

before falling

back to ground

to peck at scraps