A dog barks
machinery clanks
the rasping sound
of vehicles reversing
workmen shouting
in the distance
music plays
pigeons grunt
in fear of magpies
who won't be denied
albeit distracted
momentarily
by a buzzard
screeching overhead
these sounds
the sound of life
lucky me
they are not
the sounds of bombs
the sounds of drones
the sounds of children
who once cried
now silenced by hunger
hot winds howling
through decimated homes
a medieval siege
no food
no shelter
no earthly justification
human wrongs
these sounds
the sounds of death
Written by: Marina Florance