by Barbara Meier

The boy scout making bird houses

for songbirds,

nailing

wood to wood,

carving a hole to let them in,

to build

a twiggy nest,

and lay the eggs

to be destroyed

by unscouts,

splintering into kindling

the baby bird houses,

wrecked,

because they can control

the hammer,

strike the plywood and nail,

setting fires in street trash cans,

breaking homes of glass,

before a twig could be

laid by a mother or a father.

Barbara A Meier is a retired teacher who works in a second grade classroom in Lincoln, KS. She has three chapbooks published: Wildfire LAL 6, from Ghost City Press, Getting Through Gold Beach, from Writing Knights Press, and Sylvan Grove, from The Poetry Box. She loves all things ancient.