The Owl

 

The Owl

I catch a glimpse 

of your unexpected form,

 a  timeless symbol of wisdom,

majestic and grand, 

perched confidently 

on the naked branch

 before me. 

My human mind 

protests your appearance

at this daylight hour,

but my heart stops 

in glorious surprise, 

as you, 

rotating your perfect head 

so fluidily,

glance for just 

a span of  breath

down at me,

  Merlin's secrets glowing 

in  your ancient eyes.

I am mesmerized.

You are disinterested. 

I can almost hear your sigh

as you shrug  your wings 

and turn your back on me.

I take a hestitant 

but reverent step,

over the  crackling 

brown and yellow leaves 

the hardwood around us 

has dropped 

like unwanted garments 

to the ground.

The chickadees laugh 

condescendingly 

from the tops of the tall spruce  

at the audacity of my attempts 

to have my hikers 

bring me closer

 to your presence,

while squirrels chatter 

anxiously  back and forth 

over the reason for your 

untimely visit,

making  tiny ,  

frantically moving silhouettes 

agains the silvery light 

of this late Autumn afternoon.

The dog pulls impatiently at the leash, 

oblvious to your closeness,

sniffing and wanting to move 

onto other things 

much farther down the path.

How can she not see you ?

How can she not be in awe?

Are  you just a magnificent 

and magical apparition 

appearing as an intervention

in my day of ordinary  dukha?

I have to know. 

Gingerly, I move closer,

holding my breath

as half frozen twigs and 

the forest's broken appendages 

snap beneath my feet.

You turn again to me,

just a look,

before you open up 

your great feathery wings, 

speckled with the pheonix's ashes.

And without a sound 

you leap off the perch,

glide silently through the air,

and are gone.

The magic that momentarily 

lifted my heart,

my life,

gives way to the chill 

of this last October day. 

© Dale-Lyn, October, 2020

Okay...don't judge remember.  

Wrote this fast...probably full of typos.  Will fix it up when I get back. 

Ran into this amazing owl on our walk this afternoon...never seen it before.  Beautiful and surprising.  I didn't have my camera so I had to take a picture in poetic image so I could remember...next best thing.

All is well!