Evening Patrol Poem by Denis Martindale

The white owl wings sweep through the air,
Each feather plays its part,
Fuelled by the strength that got them there
When that owl made his start...
He glides from tree to tree to tree,
Observes life's cavalcade,
The pageantry that few eyes see,
As sunshine's glow must fade...

Less details seen as twilight bears
Its full weight from now on,
An owl's designed without such cares,
Despite the sun that's gone...
The moon's enough to fly around,
To set off or to land,
Another meal must yet be found
And so each evening's planned...

His hunger spurred each new event,
His every twist and turn,
Each changing thought to comprehend,
To update and to learn...
For this patrol, like those before,
This owl must fly alone
And that once seen fills us with awe,
The like that's rarely known...


Denis Martindale, copyright, October 2013.


The poem is based on the magnificent painting
by Stephen Gayford called 'Evening Patrol'.


More Stephen Gayford poems here:
denis-martindale-dot-blogspot-dot-com