Red baby holds the pen in his ink spot hand
Fingernails born pink by redwing blackbird
I watch him as the line forms thinly-veiled bugs
“They’re getting married” he says
I tussle his hair and plant a kiss on his golden head
What did you think of the finger paint on classroom walls
sanguine streams slowly dribbling down?
And when the soft, upturned palms littered the ruined walk?
And the gleaming golden bullet casings replaced their shining eyes?
I tell him: “I’ve seen light strain through windows.”
The diaphanous Muslin sheet faintly obscuring the red splattered faces
“The charcoal screen a sieve
catching squashed black winged gnats spewing dots of cherry red”
I’ve seen the tiny hands.
limp
palm up
And the sanguine murals on the classroom walls
“Blood red frailty”
I’ve seen the death in their eyes
“They like cherries you know. The gnats…
Cherry tomatoes in the garden
The sweetness summery and tangy
Small and red
Warmth draining
Getting sticky red
I’ve seen their wings coated in viscous seed juice”
I’ve seen what their eyes will never see again
“I’ve seen the red sweet hot death of cherries, baby”
Cause they were just babies you know.
He was just a baby
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