Quietly Tomorrow
by J. Darrell Kirkley


Thud!
A sound hit the outside of my door.
Was someone there?
I had better take a look.
Open, I peered out to see,
No one was there, except a Blue Jay
Squawked and flew away.

Wondering about the thud sound,
As I looked about,
There atop the Juniper planter,
A yellow Finch, on its back, it lay.
At my fingers touch, the frail body was warm,
His neck was limp,
Broken I assumed, when he hit the door.
The Blue Jay must have been in chase,
For they are a bully of a bird.

The laws of the jungle,
…Rather the laws of life,
For this yellow Finch, has now been its fate!

With a paper towel,
I picked up the poor little dead prey.
In mock procession, I walked to the ally,
Laid his lifeless body into the bin,
A little prayer, I then said.
Quietly tomorrow, he will be taken away.

Thud!
God! …It was deadly, the sound at my door.






Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.