carbon copying blackbirds
burning down the forest
doesn’t seem like the right thing to do
whether in times of peace or war
it’s not like you can make carbon copies
of hundreds of thousands of trees
replacing them within a generation or two
after having the enemy succumbed to flames
it’s not like you can stitch & sew time
making it nineteen ninety-nine all over again
before the world became more complicated
than la niña or an impossible crossword
ever since the first shots were fired
blackbirds continue to gather at the border
in numbers innumerable
patiently waiting for all hell to break loose
february two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
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