Shadowy, Feathery

"Brush my forehead with a feather,
not with an eagle's feather, nor with a sparrow's,
but with the shadowy feather of an owl."
~~Tennessee Williams~~
from his poem "The Summer Belvedere"

NEW POST TODAY ON
THE FORTNIGHTLY KITTI CARRIKER:
LITERARY BLOG OF CONNECTION & COINCIDENCE
"THE SHADOWY FEATHER OF AN OWL"
BETTER MOUSETRAP
by American Artist Charley Harper
See the little mouse in the above painting by popular bird artist, Charley Harper? At first, it looks like another leaf, but the title provides a hint. Likewise, the owl in this poem by John Haines preys upon mice but is a friend and silent companion to the narrator. The eerie, prophetic tone here is similar to that of "Listening in October" (mentioned recently).

If the Owl Calls Again
at dusk
from the island in the river,
and it's not too cold,

I'll wait for the moon
to rise,
then take wing and glide
to meet him.

We will not speak,
but hooded against the frost
soar above
the alder flats, searching
with tawny eyes.

And then we'll sit
in the shadowy spruce
and pick the bones
of careless mice,

while the long moon drifts
toward Asia
and the river mutters
in its icy bed.

And when the morning climbs
the limbs
we'll part without a sound,

fulfilled, floating
homeward as
the cold world awakens.

poem by John Haines (b. 1924)
American poet and professor
Poet Laureate of Alaska, 1969 - 1973

"If the Owl Calls Again" and "Listening in October" can both be found in The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer: Collected Poems

CLICK TO READ MORE OWL POETRY
& SEE MORE CHARLEY HARPER OWLS
"THE SHADOWY FEATHER OF AN OWL"