In Totality

Eyes on the Sky

inspired by George Bilgere

I can see him in the open field,

eyes on the sky,

with his gun at the ready.

He feels his father pat him on the back,

their own special sign, and he

pulls back the hammer,

eyes glued to the birds

as they fly overhead.

He pulls the trigger, and although

he does not hear a sound, he knows

that he has killed it.

As the dog comes proudly trotting back,

goose in mouth, he beams at his father,

nothing else mattering to the two.

Today, as I sit cleaning that very same

twelve-gauge with the black electrical tape

holding on the foregrip, I look at my

father and wonder if my uncle felt

the same way I do, content to be

with my father.

But as I stuff the ramrod down the barrel,

I can imagine him

hunting the endless golden fields,

and hearing every sound.