poetry by kevin foote

*CONTENT WARNING – war

Warren

Pre-dawn light glowed along its fur
It didn’t dart, nor dash, nor anything near hiding
But hopped beside me
So close to my leg
That my headlamp should’ve scared it off

For fifty yards or so, we had where we had to run, 
the path we shared 
had no space for fear
No signs among the brush the stones the grass 
That Kevin & the Cottontail needed
To change our course

We ran while rockets hissed over the Gaza Strip
Landing, cruelest of crackling, through Israeli cars
Killing couples
silencing second dates before they could begin
We ran while moans of mothers rang above Gaza City
Shrieking, fiercest of feeling, over the high rise laid low in air strikes
flattening children
Silencing in seconds lessons students would never hear

We ran while orange and yellows slowly grew
over the edges of the road smattered with stones
Stones small enough for a child to throw at a tank
Before he would hold the gun, hold the RPG,
Hold the brother in his arms one last time
After taking the life of someone else’s brother.

We ran without a worry
Of who was the animal
And then we went our separate ways
To our warrens.