poems from the park

Whooo…Whooo…Hoot, Whooo

Owl in park pulls you from a dream

Whooo…Whooo…Hoot, Whooo

Now – it roosts in your backyard tree

Whooo…Whooo…Hoot, Whooo

It warns night of death’s damnation

Whooo…Whooo…Hoot, Whooo

Ritual litany to scare and flush prey

Whooo…Whooo…Hoot, Whooo

A swoosh, then roaring silence

Owl coos an apologist’s prayer,

plunges his beak into penitent flesh,

Offers another compliant soul

Held fast beneath grasping feet

The promise of eternity

In the belly of the sky

3-21-21