Toby killed the bird - Victoria Adukwei Bulley

Knitting Slippers with Mamma

Toby killed the bird at first light,

left the hallway dashed with feathers:
a fraction of a pillow fight.

Before we woke up, after night,
and hoovered up the snowy weather
Toby killed the bird at first light.

He must have heard it screech in flight,
its tiny frame (though made for measure),
a fraction of a pillow fight.

No small thing would keep its life
in needle jaws closed tight together.
Toby killed the bird at first light

and who am I to say what’s right
when my kind kill for fur and leisure?
A fraction of a pillow fight –

one way to say what it looked like

when wild prey met tame predator.
Toby killed the bird at first light.
A fraction of a pillow fight.