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Larry Schug has recently had poems rejected by Silk Road, Apple Valley Review, Ward 6 Review and Greatcoat. He thinks it’s their loss.
Counting Hummingbirds in a Time of War
The cry of a rabbit
carried off by a hunting owl
unsettles you, keeps you awake
in anticipation of another owl,
another scream.
To put your mind at ease,
you count hummingbirds
in your head,
seen today, hovering
above a bed of red bee balm.
For a blessed moment,
the humming in your ears
is only the thrumming of tiny wings.
You think of a man lying in bed
in another part of the world,
almost insane from blood,
listening for helicopters
thrumming in the distance.
You resume counting hummingbirds
to keep your sanity.