Blood Bath

Skies of bright blue

and lazy clouds drift

miles above the grass.

A balmy breeze,

a warm summer day…

-

Wind tickles the leaves

fragrant with cherry blossom

and freshly mowed grass.

It wafts lazily through branches

and a honeybee lights on clover.

-

The bright cerulean of a child’s pool,

and the crystal clear of cold water

kissed by the sun and warmed.

Dogs bay in their pin across the yard,

ready to run and roam for the day.

-

It's bath day for those dogs,

a day one dreads – the other loves,

and a teenage girl retrieves one.

He resists, she laughs,

and puts him in the pool.

But as he touches the water,

something slowly starts to spread,

and the more the water touches,

the redder it becomes.

There’s horror in the realization:

-

Tiny corpses speckle pink foam

as she washes them away.

The infestation of pests,

blood-hungry insects

are eating him alive.

-

The air hangs thick with metal

and chemical aromas,

and her stomach churns.

His eyes meet hers,

chocolate brown and wide.

-

There is pain in those eyes,

a longing for relief.

And she wants to provide,

no matter the cost,

no matter the strife…

-

The other is just as bad,

black and grey fur caked

with scabs and blood and fleas.

He can hardly stand…

She can hardly breathe…

-

She isn’t there for them

when the gunshot sounds.

She isn’t there for them

when they hit the ground.

But for both, a garden she will make.