1.A birds-eye view of life

 

High up in my nest

King of all that I survey

Bedded down up on the crest

Watching carefully for my prey

 

Breathing slowly, breathing deep

Find that inner peace

Ready to inflict the eternal sleep

The provider of the final release

 

Lying and waiting for the go-ahead

Anticipation of the Green-light

The difference between alive or dead

Sits there in my rifle sight

 

Still slowly breathing in and out

Steadying my trigger-finger

No time now for any doubt

My job is simply to be the death-bringer

 

And, as ever, all so crucial for me to succeed

Weighing up the risks, the chances of a miss

Distance, trajectory, humidity and today’s wind speed

Basic requirements to send my target falling into the abyss

 

Those long hours of preparation and concentration

Will today be the day

When all that careful calculation

Means the predator strikes his prey

 

Looking down my rifle sight

Holding the keys to life or death

In the rusty-coloured dying light

Focusing on my every breath

 

Take the shot, Take it now

Held tight in the centre of my sight

Squeezing gently now, whispering Ciao

In the fading blood-coloured dying light

 

High up in my nest

King of all that I survey

Now I’ve reached the end of my quest

The end of my own macabre ballet

 

Now I pack and quietly slip away

Nary a tear in my eye

Just a normal Sniper’s day

It was simply time for someone else to die

 

2.Fragment of a tree

 

I feel the sting of your harsh rebuke

I sense your annoyance and dripping disapproval

Rather than rudely sticking out my tongue

And legging it, I stand to face the music

 

I adopt what I think is my best plaintive, hang-dog, expression

Slowly lower my eyes and dip my head in shame

Whatever I think, I can’t argue too much

We both know who wears the trousers around here

 

Understand who is the master, who takes the lead

Who puts the roof over our head, dinner on the plate

But I do feel, for once, you’ve been a bit short-sighted

You probably should have seen this coming

 

I don’t think I should really take all of the blame

After all, we’ve been here before

And when you lobbed that gnarled fragment of a tree

Right into the middle of the slowly meandering river

 

Let’s face it, you were always going to get wet

When I lovingly brought it back,

Dropped it expectantly at your feet

And vigorously shook off the excesses of the river.