I Am An Owl

I hunt my prey, late dusk or night With wings so quiet in my flight It's hard to see me up in trees Since I am camouflaged with ease My ears are placed in such a way I hear most sounds from far away My beak is hooked- made sharp to tear But feathers cover it like hair My eyes are large on my flat face They do not move, stay firm in place To see, I turn my head with ease Two hundred seventy degrees I hoot, hiss, scream, and most times, screech To find a mate within my reach Or let my competition know This is my space, and they must go In trees, await the choicest prey Small mammals, birds, that come my way Some days, on insects, I may dine A fish from a small pond is fine My talons are like raptor claws When prey appears, without a pause I quickly fly from tree to ground And clench the bird or mouse I've found My prey I often swallow whole Complete digestion is my goal Whatever I cannot digest Comes up as pellets I express And something you may think is cruel When raising owlets, it's the rule To feed the best and largest first And so the weakest ones are cursed A cannibal I can be too Eat smaller owls that I pursue I never feel the slightest guilt; This is the way that I was built Of owls, there are two hundred kinds We've been around since ancient times From small to large, with raptor claws I think I came from dinosaurs. February 3, 2016