Vietnam: the Eagle Has Landed

Graceful predator perched on the precipice of woe Your satin crown, ebony feathers cannot camouflage mision of misery you'll sow Your balmy wings caress as dark shadows grow You sharpen your talons lethal grasp your helpless prey to show But only quicken the hearts of foragers nestled below Shrill call does not alarm wary prey; only emboldened, novel defenses bestow Slower prey their extended units disband; bountiful feast now in escrow Stealthy ears pick up the feigned, stressful calls of dispossessed lying low The harried remnant recedes into veiled canopy with their cargo Confident dive bomber, you plunge into the shielded canopy mayhem to strew Only to have pleated wings torn by thistle, thorn guarding the undertow Injured, but deadly weapons your armada still doth tow With sharp beak you shred the stragglers who venture into twilight's afterglow With bristling talons you scratch and claw causing stiffened backs to bow But their desire to live trumps marauding havoc laid in stow Shorn of limb but not of hope, scurrying from nest to nest to and fro Storm clouds gather over Dover cliffs; thunderous chorus from nest doth bellow On the sparring range, a docile, prevailing wind no longer doth blow Wearied from long chase, depleted eagle from bleeding strand doth go