Poem for Thursday September 21 2023 The Small Barn Owl Jill Stockinger

[jill stockinger]

Here is my poem for discussion for Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

It is The Small Barn Owl. Jill

 

The Small Barn Owl by Jill Stockinger

 

The claws of the small barn owl

are like spreading starfish,

awkward in the air; softness glows

in lightness of blue sky, clouds that are

tentative suggestions, merely a floating

mist of white. Bent green stalks

are dappled by the lightest touch

of sun. In the center is a solemn

curtsey of white ruffling feathers,

fanned out so each single one is

outlined clearly. The face is a soft

pillow of white, indented with two

small, gentle eyes, looking for all

the world like shiny buttons. The beak

is tucked down, no suggestion

of fierceness, of thirsting after prey.

The owl holds still in graceful, angelic

pose, achingly white, hovering,

as if asking to be liked;

then comes the crunch of bone

in the talons’ grasp.

A few drops of red blood fall

from the limp gray body

of the airborne mouse.