Today's poem is by Liala Zaray

American Preposition
       

The woodpecker in my neighborhood wakes me up at 6 am every morning
& I resist the impulse to kill every time
This is how I know I am American.

Despite it being illegal,
I start each of my mournings dreaming of a death
which does not belong to me

to protect a freedom I believe I am owed.
Freedom of silence; freedom in silence; freedom to silence
The positionality of death has never moved me

The woodpecker lives in the tallest tree in our neighborhood
He thinks his livelihood is important enough to be showcased
The ego kills more men than God ever could

It took only one bullet to kill the woodpecker
I did not expect his little body to make so much noise
No one warned me of the loudness of death, how it echoes toward

Tweet
Copyright © 2024 Liala Zaray All rights reserved
from Poetry London
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission