Celebratory Ordinance

The grass,
What little of it grows here,
Waits patiently behind the rock.

The summer sun has risen
One hour past.
The once-glacial river
Arouses the flattened land.
It is the day.

How long the grass has watched,
The tree has titled its branches,
The leaves have contained themselves.
But today…

There it is.
The morning petal reaching out.
Its stem quivering.
Another opens.
And another,
Spreading open their cover of pride.
An alpine-like moment.
A celebrant day.

Leaves applaud.
Grass sways in the breeze.
Eagle and hawk circle,
Their reverence accepted.
Nature is pleased.

Higher above…

A clandestine flight.
A silent covert glide,
From whose wings
Comes a sudden burst of timed-fire.

Into the many villages
Erupts the cacophony of death.

The trench-laden silence falls dead
Behind flame-filled smoke rising,
Rushing skyward,
Chasing eagle and hawk asunder.

Many miles away…

Cheers of success.
“Ordinance delivered.”
Men applaud.
Women applaud.
A different solemnized celebration begins…

And ends

For this day.