Zaharoff with Fangs
Reflections fade
as vultures settle down
for long, silent sleep.
We rise at dusk
and hunt our prey.
When nations clash
in distant seas,
we wait.
When virgins sound
their scarlet sigh,
we wait.
As moonglow softens years
and the clouds of eons past
converge to kill,
we wait in birthright dust.
Tanks, missiles, drones
of the Russian Bear
explode Ukrainian schools
and hospitals.
Three million dead as we wait
and count our coin.
No reflection in our silver glass,
no reflection in our
endless waking nightmare.
We will pounce and destroy
in the aftermath of invasion.
Our fangs will fall upon
the riches of terror,
will sink deeply into the veins
of oil and crude despair.
Schools and hospitals obliterated,
refugee lines wiped away.
It’s easy to sleep at dawn
with pocketbooks full to bursting.
It’s easy to look into
the mirrors of time
when we cast
no reflection.
Andre F. Peltier (he/him) is a Pushcart and Best of the Net Nominee and a Lecturer III at Eastern Michigan University where he teaches literature and writing. He lives in Ypsilanti, MI, with his wife and children. His poetry has recently appeared in various publications like CP Quarterly, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Provenance Journal, About Place, Novus Review, Fiery Scribe, and Fahmidan Journal, and most recently in Menacing Hedge, The Brazos Review, and Idle Ink. His debut chapbook, Poplandia, is available from Alien Buddha. In his free time, he obsesses over soccer and comic books. Website: www.andrefpeltier.com