Poem: Fight or Flight

A poem about a bird left for dead. Or was it? Or is it?

There was a bird that got caught
in the lawnmower —
and we gathered around to watch it
either die, or fly away.

My aunty told my uncle to shield
us all from it — but he reckoned
there was a lesson, and told us all
to watch. He raised the shovel

high above his head and hit down hard.
The bird came to life and flew right
past our heads. I still wonder sometimes
what the lesson was meant to be.

But not long after, my aunty and uncle
were divorced. So perhaps the lesson
was not for us kids. Then again,
maybe it was…