a brown mouse sits
whiskers twitching
as the breeze
sweeps through
the fields of
lavender blooms
crouching low
as the shadows
circle high above
little heart hammers
in a sudden flash
of deadly exposure

wings spread lazily
drifting on thermals
coalescing between
concrete spires
staring unblinkingly
at fluttering fields
of fresh flowers
a blur of brown
huddles among the
amethyst petals
the faintest flicker
yet enough to call
the raptor’s glare

i do not know
if i am the mouse
or the hawk hovering
just out of frame
the anxiety of
the unknown or
the stomach lurch
of diving recklessly
beak first toward
the unforgiving soil
driving my sputtering
mechanical heart to
bellow black smoke
in a confusion of
instinctual failings