AIR RAID ON SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND

Through the black
And pitch of night
Gleaming needles of
Searching light
Prick a target
To the sky
Another "star"
Pinned on high.

See him squirm
And swerve away
Helpless--held
In illumined spray
Spider-webbed
Across the sea
Of stars and sky
A humming bee.

He, who came
To deal out death
Feels the might
Of Britain's best.
Slowly, gracefully
Rising high
Chinese lanterns
Filled the sky
Then a burst
Of crimson flames
Blazed on high.
And now remains
The final say:
No more the hunter--
The fallen prey.

© 1997 by Pasqual S. Schievella