BLACK-SHOULDERED
KITE
The
black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris)
is a small raptor found in Australia.
Measuring 35–38
cm (14–15 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–95 cm
(31–37 in), the adult black-shouldered kite is a small and
graceful, predominantly pale grey and white, raptor with black
shoulders and red eyes. Wikipedia.
This
poem is set in the country looking over some pasture land or in
Australian terms a paddock. Although
on one level this could be regarded as a simpler nature lyric, on
another it reflects an ambiguity that is found not only in nature but
in other situations too. Although the lines vary in length and the
approach to form is relatively free the lines still scan- the first
two lines have a slower four-footed trochaic feel
then they to more energetic iambic lines of various lengths. The
rhymes, half rhymes and internal rhymes interact with the meaning and
images rather than following a set pattern.
BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE
In the long light of
a late
Summer afternoon,
above
Long grasses gilded
at seed-tips,
A kite of white
With rippling wings
barred black,
Suspends upon the
southern breeze,
Intently watching
all beneath.
Now suddenly
She stoops:
She swoops,
As though she'd lost
the flow of flight,
So swiftly falling,
arrow-like.
The prey is caught
in talons like a knife.
Such hunting skill!
Such mastery!
Such feathered ease
upon the breeze!
We watch, admiring,
by the house.
Indeed she moves
enchantingly;
As long as you
Are
not the mouse...
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