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Vulture Culture
Above the clouds, a vulture soars,
the leader of a culture war.
The bird of prey is wide awake,
ready to punish grave mistakes.
A rooster crows with all his might,
and fast, the vulture drops in flight.
This cock upset some hens in jest,
his crowing taken out of context.
The vulture thinks, “This matters not.
A deadly lesson must be taught.”
Although the cock apologized,
the vulture isn’t satisfied.
Seizing the cock with iron grip,
he takes him on a little trip.
The vulture lands and vomits acid.
The cock is burned, his wattles branded.
Next day, at noon, the Sun is blackened,
a sign to birds of something destined.
Across the land, the thrushes tweet
the vulture’s secret: stolen meat.
The vulture cries, then squawks and squeals.
His greatest sin has been revealed.
A vulture volt condemns him now:
“Prepare to die; you stole our cow!”
The vulture pleads, “My brothers, stop!”,
as he is eaten by his flock.
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Christopher Lindsay is the author of The Donkey King and Other Stories. Available on Amazon Kindle. His plays have been performed in Canada, England, and the United States. His website is: www.
Very atmospheric
Thank you, Pat. It went through countless rewrites.
Quite a lesson for poseurs.
Congrats.
With steady hand, unblinking eye,
I shot the buzzard from the sky.
A chilling fable, if indeed we can call it that.
You took some daring chances with many of your rhymes, Christopher, but they were all worth it. Vultures cannot survive on fresh meat; it must be rotten, for otherwise they can’t digest it. In a strange way, the vulture does good service by cleaning up the environment. The vulture is NOT a bird of prey, but a carrion feeder. Now you should see why the message of the poem might be unclear to many readers.
Hi C.B., Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you liked the rhymes.
I did a quite a bit of research for this poem, and except for the last line, I think everything is factually correct.
“A vulture is a scavenging bird of prey.” Wikipedia
“Unlike the more docile turkey vultures, which are more timid and feed on dead animal carcasses, black vultures are more aggressive. They’ve been known to target and kill small live animals including lambs, calves, goats, groundhogs and other wild animals.”
https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/black-vultures-the-rise-growing-problem-for-livestock-producers
Interesting poem but I feel that it can be confused with the “vulture culture” hobby, a hobby for people who take interest in collecting and cleaning bones
The opening lines of this poem sets the tone and pulls you in:
Above the clouds, a vulture soars,
the leader of a culture war.
Well done, Chris.
Increíble poem. I really like this line: “Prepare to die; you stole our cow!” It was funny but very serious at the same time. Great poem! I hope to see more of this author. This deserves to be in the society of classical poets. ❤️