The Hawk Was There...

The hawk was there,

posing...

I watched

until it flew away

from the redwood tree in the small grove

where redwoods don’t grow naturally.

The tree isn’t thriving...

It’s sickly, 

green below

and little more than skeleton

where it touches the sky.

I’ve seen the red tail there 

on other days 

perched,

watching

for  squirrels

and other small creatures.

One day it caught a snake

and flew up with it squirming

where I guess it squeezed

until its prey gave up and died.

I looked around for somebody

to whom I could say Aaaahhh,

Aaaaahhh, do you see what I see?

But not a soul was there...

then the bird flew away,

snake dangling limp.

You’ll have to take my word for it...

that day with the snake

and again today.

My camera was in a bag

on the back of my bike.