Tanya and Lauren wanted
to teach the guinea pig to fly
they tossed him back and forth and back,
higher and higher still—
Until someone missed.
Little body twitching on the soft carpet,
then finally still.
Pig was buried in pretty doll clothes
and tears.
Carlos put the BB gun to the kittens head
The hostage in the game of robbers and cops
The other kids shouted a chant
“Shoot, shoot, shoot!”
Carlos didn’t intend to—
but the cops jumped down on him from the tree.
“Better that cat than your hermano!”
His mother said.
Dylan learned in school
that friends shared things.
The puppy wanted some Halloween candy
So they shared and shared—
and when they got sick
they shared medicine too.
The puppy died with a happy twitch of his tail
and a lick for his friend Dylan.
Adam claimed that his bunny got his head caught
On the top of the mesh cage in the yard.
But only nimble fingers could have twisted the metal
into a perfect noose,
the bunny hung by the neck until dead.
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Angela R. Lindfors is a
stay-at-home writer and mother. In 2007 she studied abroad in Japan and
in 2008 she graduated from St. Edward's University. She currently lives
in San Antonio, Texas.
Bay Laurel / Volume 1, Issue 1 / Autumn 2012