Two white birds sit
on a tree
identical.
They chirp beautiful melodies
and their songs radiate throughout
the forest.

A boy is running through the forest,
black haired,
with his many friends
with guns.
They spot the birds and circle up,
plotting the attack.

They begin shooting.
The bullets glide through the air
and rip through one bird,
then the other.

Their blood spews out
for them all to see.
Their flawless white feathers are now covered
in the hatred of another’s soul.

The birds look at each other
in shock
and look at their beautiful babies in the nest
beside them,
who have witnessed it all.

Her body begins to sway,
as her weakening strength
is unable to support her weight anymore.
She tries to fight it,
struggling to say goodbye,
to say she loves them.
But her legs give out
as she crumples to the ground.

His vision is beginning to go
as every breath is shallower than the last.
He will never get to teach his kids
how to fly.
He tumbles to the ground
and lays with her
side by side.

There is no more chirping.

but their blood will always remain in the tree
where they both once sang.