Feathers and Blood in the Morning

By the third night you took action
a girl
dusty ranch boots and black jeans
white Stetson and your first
rifle
open window of your dark bedroom
you waited on the roof into
midnight,
for the thief

the quiet hours passed below
a soft feathering fog
lo
fleeting moonlit wraith on the wind!
chickens in cackling terror dove for
fresh purchase

a girl steels herself
focus on the iron sights
the marauder
crack 
    across the cold mountain air
fell the king kestrel

and peace in the hen house
was restored.

TA