Poetry

Vultures

Byline

They sit on rocks
They cling in trees
Looking, searching
Patiently waiting
Perched to swoop
Perched to devour
whatever remains of
the lifeless

Vultures
They feed in their social order
Pecking, tugging
Tearing flesh from bone
Jerking muscles, tissues
and marrow
Consuming whatever
remains of the lifeless

Vultures
They come in feathers
with amazing wingspans
They come with exposed heads
and sharp beaks
They fly and nest as birds
They clean the earth of viles
They never prey but wait on death
They live as they are destined

But the vultures among us
They attack the living,
the sharing, the struggling
They sit on rocks
They cling in trees
Forever swooping
Forever devouring
whatever remains of
the lifegiving