All Over the Place: War and Beauty

By Michael H. Brownstein

Let us say the colorful hummingbird symbolizes peace.

Let us say the two legged giant with weak arms is the gray of cruelty—

The hummingbird swift and agile, a glitter of texture;

the giant clumsy and slow, the creator of tools of destruction.

Let us say they meet in the field of wild flowers blossoming.

After the fires fade, only a thick fog of death remains.

Let us say the hummingbird tries to symbolize peace.

Let us say the giant with weak arms tries to be the master of extinction.

The field will regain itself, flowers will bloom, hummingbirds will sing

their soft whisper of a song: I do this work for you,

two legged giant with weak arms, so you will have many fields

colored with beauty and sweet perfumes to scent the air.

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First published by Visual Verse

Copyright © 2022 by Michael H. Brownstein Michael H. Brownstein’s volumes of poetry, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else and How Do We Create Love?, were published by Cholla Needles Press in 2018 & 2019, respectively.