At first I felt bad
when they pummeled my windshield,
a hundred red-eyed
lives I never meant to take
reduced to guts splashed on glass.

At the pool today,
kids in swimsuits shrieked and plunged
beneath the surface,
shook off small winged assailants
buzzing blindly at their heads.

I watched one sputter 
on the water, no longer
caring if it died.
But a man reached in and plucked
it out – better man than I.