Lou J. Klaiber

JUNGLE VALKYRIE

Silence
cools the warm breath
of twilight.

Pulling a merciful sheet of gray,
before darkness,
upon the twisted limbs of trees
and bodies…

… cannot ease the stench of death.
The heightened sense
of immediate danger!

We move cautiously,
quietly,
forward.

I signal
and move forward alone.
Drawn
toward a powerful force.

Something
moving…
and nearby.

Fear and excitement quicken my senses.
The moment
is a hot sting in my armpits!

Then,
eye-to-eye
just once,
and forever
she stares into my eyes
my soul
as she moves among the dead.

She raises her beautiful face.
Flaring her nostrils;
staring deep into my eyes!

And I lower my weapon!
Ashamed
of what has been done
to her home
her world.

I retreat within.
Retreat from her world.
Tell no one…!
and change direction.

My War is nothing
to a Tiger!