Feel free to feed the pigeons

the ones that encircle the fountain

in the center of the old town

there’s always someone there

and old man on a stool just to the edge of them

with bird

feed

 

I couldn’t tell you why they chose this place

       Trg Bascarsija

right in the center of this city

just east of the copper workers and

south of the snipers

 

I wonder if it’s because of the people who

feed them that they’re there

or if they called this place home first

and we’ve put it under siege

 

all I know is that they weren’t there during the war

just like my parents they flew when

the grenade was thrown

 

and there was no more bird feed

or old man on a stool

there was just shrapnel-sized holes in the ground