In a Screech Owl Moment
I heard an owl last night
as I walked in the forest.
It was just past the full moon
and so there was some light.
It's screech raised the hairs
on my neck.
Suddenly the lights
and the darks became
clear.
The trees and bushes
all stood in high resolve.
I felt the cool air intake
throughout my lungs and
a sense of smell long gone
suddenly returned.
My ear heard a flutter
of wings to the right.
On my left from a long dead ear
I heard,
the frantic scurrying of small prey
in flight.
What if, what if,
in some other place and time,
I had been the prey?
Would I have known what to do?
As my senses cooled down
I became more aware of
what an alien I was in the forest bare.
Books I can read but I am
illiterate here.
What must it be like to always
live life
in a screech owl moment?
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