The Great Horned Owl

In the daylight hours, I spend my time So high on a perch, in a lofty pine Where I fluff and comb my pretty plumes And wait for the rise of the silver moon I bob and weave on the top of the tree Watching my world, in dimensions of three My golden eyes fixed, on the fallen leaves As I wait for the night, so patiently At the set of sun, and the rise of moon In the Croatan forest, near Camp Le Jeune With a piercing screech, I take to the sky On the wind, with silent wings, I fly Over forest and swamps, on a winter night Dipping and swaying like a wind-blown kite In search of a rabbit, a rat or a bat Until I find one, there's no turning back Over Emerald Isle, and wind-swept dunes I fly, so freely, beneath a silver moon For miles along the Atlantic shore Engrossed in the din of the ocean's roar I hear from a distance, the stir of a hare And see her dining, on sea grasses there Her nibbling nose, like a lure, to my eyes As I, with the speed of lightning, fly Then swooping straight down, without a sound I wrap my talons, so tightly around The slow, soft beat, of a dying heart As bits of fur, fly away in the dark A Great Horned Owl, I'm a bird of prey With the wind at my back, I make my way With the chill of winter, a melt on my breast I return triumphantly to my nest. ~~~ For contest sponsored by Eve Roper Owls Personification Placed: 2nd Written: February 12, 2016 Elaine Cecelia George, of Canada