Bird Flu

Recent reports on the avian flu bring back symptoms of my childhood.

I once had to kill a chicken with my hands and an ax. It’s true what they say-- a chicken does run around with its head cut off.

My brother and I expected the bird to run around with its head chopped off as we put the bird’s head between two nails pounded into a tree stump and slammed down the ax.

He let the legs go and the bird’s body flew away, not knowing where it was going because it could not see.

Its head fell to the ground and landed topside up. The bird blinked for several moments before it realized its body was somewhere else.

Bill stepped on the blinking bird.

I wonder what it must be like to kill thousands of birds.