poetry: rictus *ab aeterno**

photo credit KKurl

perched on the crest
neck extended
the hawk scanned

wheels - 2,3,4...18
men and animals
vying for the tarmac

pathos aplenty
pickings slim
for the bird of prey

in that dissonance
of diesel's whining
exhortative blares
vendor's symphonies
pauper's piteous pleas
children's cackling chatter
coalescing
into fickle silence

the lava of suspicion
blends with polluting
plebeian palliation
and flows undetected

a child with matted hair
runny nose, bloated stomach
stupefied
locks eyes with the bird
and smiles
_______

* ric·tus - noun, the gape of the mouth of a bird

** ab ae·ter·no - adverb Latin. from the most remote antiquity.