New Poetry by Deborah J. Hunter: “March 2003”

March 2003
(the US bombing of Iraq)

while I was riding to San Antonio
I watched a hawk
that looked like a hieroglyph
against a fingerpainted sky

at the same time
on the other side of the world
pyrotechnic flashes
ripped a hole in the heavens

while I was riding to San Antonio
trees fanned out across fields
on the edge of the road
like embroidered bird bones

at the same time
in a place we think of as faraway
explosions rattled walls
shook the bones of children

while I was riding to San Antonio
I saw trees gathered in a huddle
their legs a corral,
their leafy arms a canopy
for cattle and their young

at the same time
in a city built on sand
mothers huddled in corners
wondering
who was the real terrorist

when I sleep tonight
I will not dream of
hawks on the wing
grassy prairies and
pastoral tranquility