War

Metal birds, all lines up Casting shadows on the chipped cement Threatening, hovering, waiting For their chance to fly To strike, to kill A young man with boyish features Stands with a gun in his hands As the women pray to a hard, silent wall For the safety of their loved ones And their hopeful return home Fires glow on the horizon And smoke curls to the heavens above The flames licking at all they find Raging and shooting for the sky As if demanding the smoke not to leave them behind Empty cars strewn about Like broken, discarded toys War machines at the ready Blending in with all around them What once was Is no more In the devastation of war