Patriotic eagle with blood on her hands

The Seducer
CC Jean Stimmell

Last weekend,  I couldn’t resist taking a photograph
 of this effusively tattooed young woman, 

resplendent in her Memorial Day outfit.

 I wanted to use the image as part of a collage 

but did not have a clue of how to proceed.

Yesterday the key missing piece of my collage
flew into place when  this magnificent eagle *
locked me in her uncompromising stare. 

Today, I put the pieces together in Photoshop, adding a photo 

I took last month of Cape Cod Bay soon after sunrise. 

Then I selectively polarized the end result –
 unintentionally giving eagle very bloody hands.

Then came the flashback
exploding my denial
triggering something
traumatic and primal...
.
How could I forget?

I  actually knew 
this patriotic eagle
in a carnal way.
She's the siren
who seduced me
a tender teenager

taking me by the hand
leading me off to war
on the rivers of Vietnam
whispering me promises
of the ultimate orgasm.

*The eagle hangs out in the wildlife exhibit at the Squam Lake Science Center in Holderness.