Birds Reply

I woke...
leaning low against a tree...
it was a good tree...
a strong tree...
an OLD tree...
Around the tree...
as far as I could see...
were very fertile plains...
thick green grass growing...
The smell of the earth was rich...
the heady, pungent yet pleasant aroma...
of mouldering leaves...
and at my feet...
a stain of....
deep black earth...
rich and laden...
with nourishment...
Up...
through the branches...
of the tree...
the dappled sunlight...
made web work...
of blinding light...
and black shapes...
swaying in the breeze...
A cloud passes...
no longer blinded...
I see...
the shapes are not leaves...
they are crows...
blackbirds...
ravens...
hawks...
falcons...
and other carrion eaters...
At my awareness...
they move lower in the branches...
I ask...
"Why are you here?...
There is no one dead"...
"Not yet," they chorus...
Pondering this thought...
I look down...
the stain on the earth...
has grown...
Puzzled...
I follow the source feeding it...
upward...
and I start remembering...
until...
I am looking at the fletched end...
of the bolt...
in my chest...
anchoring me...
to the tree...
I echo the birds...
"Not yet"...
as tears...
stream down my face...
Moving lower...
in the branches...
the birds reply...
"We'll wait"

Comments

[bogie]

Feeling a little morbid?

[Wichi Dude]

Nope. Maybe a little Poe-esk. But not morbid.
Fits more in the "Hero" genre. If I decided to turn it into a story, it would scream to be done in an "Epic Hero Battle" setting.