V. Vaughan
Duck
Blast him, this morning honking, arms flapping
he drove ugly clouds of them into the flaming sky
so they shot past me, pulled away sharp
from my silhouette, one huge dark cataract
after another. I was forced to release the trigger,
my switch impotent, return to my decoys
and teach him a thing or two;
and whilst he collected the stray shot,
I saw red once more against the gloaming,
knew there wasn’t a second to lose;
so it was bang, bang as storm clouds gathered
and though it proved hard to stand,
the sight of him too, slavering on all fours
through the undergrowth half scaring me to death,
it wasn’t long before it was all over.
The trailer loaded, I took the twisted road back,
the kill lined up beautifully in the rear-view
though frightening the way their half-ton pulled
the bloody car down and out towards the edge
whilst the boy kept resting on the back seat.
Page(s) 69
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