Right and Left, by Gregory E. Lucas

Right and Left, by Winslow Homer (USA), 1909.

​Right and Left

Bang -- beyond the oil painting’s frame 
resounds the double-barreled shotgun’s blast.
Through wisps of smoke and fog we see the flame.
Two ducks with golden eyes in the overcast
sky diverge above a darkened white-capped wave.
One, wings spread, is frozen in its flight;
the other dives into the sea to save
its life. We too are in the hunter’s sight,
helplessly aligned with the fired shot,
confronted with our own mortality
while the boat rises on a frothing crest.
Does the duck that dives escape the onslaught? 
Perhaps both birds are lucky, breaking free,
or does a bullet split each beating breast?

Gregory E. Lucas

Gregory Lucas (Hilton Head Island, SC) writes fiction and poetry.  His short stories have appeared in The Horror Zine, Dark Dossier, Pif, Blueline, The New Press and in other magazines.  His poems have appeared in Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine, Scarlet Leaf, The Lyric, Blueline, Literary Juice, Straight Forward Poetry, and in other magazines.