Family Swan

Golden-eyed pigeons fly in pairs
grey squeaklings
linking space

"Swans mate for life,"
the old git on the news turns to the camera
for the last word
"life"

Even the wizened are media-savvy
Swan families sticking their beaks
mounted on long thin necks
into other family members' business

the sickness of one means the rest
won't go to fill their
swan-bellies

No they'll stick together
floating around until the poison kills
That bullet was outlawed years ago
lead shell-casings litter the area

The damaging quotient can't be picked up
can't be totally removed
with even the best of the finest-toothed combs

He was a family-swan
dead
bit the bullet
heavy head hanging on a long limp neck