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Playground

swirling
monkey bars and teeter totters
clash as
flocks of children
chatter like magpies
flapping still wet wings
begging for worms
with beaks pointed to the sky

shrill cries for attention

Unlike the magpie,
we kill for pleasure
a word or glance
can leave dents for a lifetime

the playground:
the first field of battle
to earn honor and respect
to learn the deadly infighting
that our species demands

to learn to survive a creature
that kills for fun.



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