I can never seem to understand,
The honour of defending one's homeland,
By pumping rivers of blood,
Hiding mass graves in the mud,
How much more can humankind withstand?

Always around when I'm in need,
My companions are what they are indeed,
Immune to time,
Their association is worth more than any dime,
Y**eilding to no one.

When her father gifted her with a sealed pithos,
Her husband knew better,
And warned her against opening it.

Time and time again,
She would be overcome with curiosity,
And would be tempted to see its contents.

Later,
After she could stand it no longer,
In a moment of weakness,
She opened it.

Out came sickness, misery, hardship and poverty,
Set free to run rampant among mankind,
For all eternity.

Stunned and shocked,
She hurriedly closed the pithos,
Trapping none other than hope inside.

She learnt her lesson the hard way -
Curiosity killed the cat.

With o u t s t r e t c h e d wings,
He swoops
                     low,
Aiming for the ****,
Only to be beaten by another.

He stands,
Poised on a tree branch,
his stony stare fixated on his prey.

I learned
When I am happy
I show my joy to everyone
To make them smile with me
But when I am sad
I hide the tears away

He watches,
Scared,
His feathers standing on end,
His beak glinting in the sunshine,
As the space between him and his predator lessons.

The enemy strikes,
but  to his relief,
As now was not his time,
Fortunately that of another of his kind.