The Sparrow Poem by Lynn W. Petty

A young Latino schoolboy watched,
Like a fidgety bird
Hearing the distant screech
Of the sparrow hawk.
Subduing his fear,
He made the sign of the cross.
He closed his apartment door
And stepped into the sunlight of day.
With unrealized dreams
Packed on his back,
He looked up and down
The street with flitting glances,
Alert to the red claws
Of drive-by death.
Stepping into the street,
He disappeared
Within the crowd of his classmates.
That evening, I saw a sparrow flying
On wings of fear.
Behind it, a hawk was closing
The span of its tiny life.
In an instant, it was impaled
On the talons of death.