Natural Law

Central Park: we watched a hawk Who picked apart his prey. Many people gathered ‘round To witness this display. I thought he must be pulling at A squirrel or a rat, The creatures he’d encounter In his urban habitat. But soon I realized I was wrong ‘Cause, though it seems absurd, The dinner he was picking at Most likely was a bird. I recognized its tail, by shape, When lifted by his beak; But really, what alerted me Were all the birds, a’shriek. For fellow avians came near A’flutter and attacking; They swooped right down and grazed that hawk As he was gamely snacking. I gave them credit for their nerve – So brash, so bold, so brazen; They tried so hard to vex that hawk, Like outlaws, guns a’blazin’. The hawk ignored them, had his meal Then flew off, with pursuers; The birds still hounded, but his flight Dispersed the human viewers. Yet we were grateful for the show – Real nature, in the flesh. You never know when natural law And life will chance to mesh. Ilene Bauer (http://primetimerhyme.blogspot.com)