The woods are giddy with song.
Small birds all blossoming,
frantic. They carve up the air
with phrases of hope?
look at me me me       
          here here I am here I am
                        fly to me to me to me.

The sparrow hawk also waits.

Under clouds hovering above the river,
an eagle, carrion eater majestic,
soars on the updrafts. Cocksure, he seeks
nothing.

Far down the bluff,
closer to the water,
a wild turkey struts.

Like a monotonous tune played
and replayed, his rust-colored tail feathers
fan out, close, droop, a come-hither
command. He stretches his blue-and-red-
wattled neck up and up until his head becomes
a periscope, turning,
searching. Hidden,

unresponsive, the hen broods
on her nest. Eleven eggs already.

What more does he want?


© by CJ Muchhala.
Used with the author's permission.