Sunday, October 18, 2020

Poem of the Week: A Barred Owl

 

A Barred Owl

The warping night air having brought the boom

Of an owl’s voice into her darkened room,
We tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking of us, if rightly listened to,
“Who cooks for you?” and then “Who cooks for you?”

Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can also thus domesticate a fear,
And send a small child back to sleep at night
Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw

Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.

HT: Poetry Foundation 

Image HT: All About Birds

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