Great grey owl
swoops down from the boreals
engages yellow eyes
in first light
& adjusts white whiskers
polished preen
like the monopoly man

great head
gone round
370 degrees
pondering
three foot high
atop the venerable fence post
patience
waiting for voles

two jays
also grey
coarse overhead
one following the other
having followed the same route
to get here

a singular timber wolf howl
anticipates
the rail-crossing at wabos
the engineer's horn is lost
amid the echoes

back on the fence row
old yellow eyes
drop to the ground below
huge wing flaps
eclipse the sun

copyright 2004 jeffrey riordan hinich wabos, ontario