Finger Print

A smart bomb in his pocket,
camera lens in the dark.

A time to fly or not
like a tiny evening bird

when the sky is black and blue,
without warning, it will rain.

Kids with polyps on beds,
the ones with lesions on the floor;

parents at home not sleeping,
all the blankets have been burned.

Tonight, there is nothing but air,
steel arms flex in the runoff,

outstretched hands cupped in silence
until a knife from the sky, then thunder.









Some of R Jay Slais’s most recent or forthcoming publications include poems in Barnwood, Bird’s Eye reView, Every Day Poets, MiPOesias, The Rose & Thorn, Sub Lit, and Twisted Tongue. A single father raising his two children, he makes a living as an engineer/inventor in Metro Detroit, Michigan.