Although this prompt had The Longing of Eagles by Robert Wrigley as inspiration, I think it is possible to complete the exercise without it…
The challenge is to write something that combines cruelty and love.
Check the comments for what I came up with – and I’m hoping to see others!
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Movement
anticipation igniting muscle
breath keening
the kill swift
crunch of beak and bone
a satisfying end
limp remains placed outside the door
awaiting praise
Cruelty and love.
Two concepts that cannot exist side by side honestly.
They are not harmonious nor synonymous.
We could use them to explain, identify or define the other.
Nature doesn’t know cruel love. It doesn’t even know cruelty. It just is, as it is. Doing what it must without intent.
Cruelty needs misguided, sadistic, malicious, mindful, calculated, and deliberate actions, which do not come out of love because love is none of these.
Love needs kindness, thoughtfulness, goodness, mindful calculated, and deliberate actions which do not come out of cruelty because cruelty is none of these.
Mixing and matching; creating unlikely partners,
Dilutes meanings making them meaningless.