In Fallujah
a family buries
their nine-year old son
in the garden
among the eggplant
and sweet pepper
Shrapnel in his stomach
The U.S. Marine patrol
on the other side
of the clay wall
A bright red cascade
of bougainvillea

Here a raucous crow
in the silk tree
calls and from up the bluff
first one then another
answers
A murder of crows
black beads
of an avian rosary
Until the last
audible crow
raises its voice
and all sound dies