The Eagle Poem by Denis Martindale

Above the mortal realm of Man,
The eagle soars the skies to scan.
To seek and find his daily meal,
When hunger growls and proves so real.
Then eyes designed to focus well
Survey below, its tales to tell.
Above the stretch of land and sea,
The eagle schemes of what must be.
As mercy surely disappears
With each new cloud that comes and clears.
For hunger speeds this hunter so,
Such that this bird becomes the foe.
No more a wondrous spectacle
As soon as he begins to fall.
For there below his meal awaits,
Oblivious to Nature's fates.
The eagle targets what he found
With callous talons tightly bound.
His victim squirms but soon departs
To join the realm where beats no hearts.
The realm where thoughts aren't called to mind
And seeing eyes are now made blind.
The eagle eats without remorse
As those that dine on their first course.
His talons served him once again
Much faster than the fishermen.
He stands triumphant in his prime
And far away he looks sublime.
He chews and eats and looks serene,
But, oh, the deaths this bird has seen!


Denis Martindale. August 2020.