Predator and Prey

by | posted in: Poems | 8

Soundlessly the eagle landed and deftly

Balanced on the naked tree top

Now bare of needles and spiny branches

A clearing in the canopy of trees

Silently she braked, setting her wings

Like my paddle in the water

Firmly held to stop my boat.

My flight is only in my mind and heart

I cannot see from soaring heights

How small I am

And how beautiful the world

If we could fly would we still pollute the waters

And scraef bare the land?

Does an astronaut , having had the chance to see

The treasured island on which we live

Suspended in the cosmos sea

Ever forget the fragile scene?

She grips the branch with taloned paws

Long wicked fingernails painted black

Curled and muscled,

Anchoring this feathered predator

While she watches ruffled water

Or long grass mixed with sassafras and ginger

She is the predator, with eagle eye

Unaware and ignorant her prey

I am witness, quiet and small

Merely an observer of so much I do not know

Janet Elizabeth Hartwick Sterk

August 13, 2019

8 Responses

  2. Linnea
    | Reply

    I am wondering what our upcoming “poetry slam” in Hackensack will sound like with you reading your poems…gorgeous Janet. As always, thought provoking.

    • HealingJourneys
      | Reply

      Thank you Linnea! I look forward to participating – and am excited for your new Center for the Arts. I am thinking about how I can pull together a presentation for that combining music or visual arts…

  3. Sue Ready
    | Reply

    Reading comments above Does this mean you are going to be in our area? if so let me know
    Your poem has a nice flow to it I particularly liked the last 2 lines

    • HealingJourneys
      | Reply

      Thank you Sue. I hope to be doing a reading in your next of the woods. I for sure will keep you posted.

      Hope you are well,

      Janet

  4. Debra Palmquist
    | Reply

    I love the closeness of your observations and what they say to me. I am intrigued by your question “Does an astronaut , having had the chance to see
    The treasured island on which we live
    Suspended in the cosmos sea
    Ever forget the fragile scene?”
    How we are touched by our experiences large and small.

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