101822

War To End All Wars


We scrambled when the bogey blipped
on Radar’s screen, “Not one of ours”
someone whispered,
and we sprinted for the planes.
Aloft, I couldn’t see a thing
that didn’t belong; our guys, clouds,
a circling vulture; then there it was:
heat shimmer/lightning/ebon void
disgorging an ungainly bird,
all spars and bulbs, antennae,
and yes, gun ports or worse,
moving fast, but so big it looked slow,
someone let loose, machine guns
flashing; boom, and confetti flutter
where a crate had been,
we all veered off and the bogey sailed past,
heading for the capital, I judged.
That was the day the world changed,
first salvo of the final war,
and me with a load in my pants.