the redtail swoops wide circles

6.30.10

the redtail swoops wide circles
over the soft green field
the black tips of its wings angle
so slightly, caressing the
warming summer morning air
and thrusting its body
deftly through the
arc of the radius and
unflinchingly into a
death dive

a deafening silence,
more, a rush of wind
deep, instinctive shudders
send the field dwellers
rushing for cover
but eyes of red marble
and talons forged of iron
descend to the earth
as fast as lightning
and in a thunderous clatter of wings
and a flash of razor-sharp beak
one life ends, and another is preserved

just a few moments later
the grasses still
the hot summer air sits calm
in its bluish haze
butterflies dance across flowertops
and small birds flicker in the brush
alongside forgetful and foraging
prairie dogs

the rapturous death dissolves
into the heat of the day