Of Eagles, Before the Reckoning

“Of Eagles, Before the Beckoning”


Alert, their penetrating eyes,
as sharp as talons, scrutinize
the windblown underbrush below
to pinpoint unsuspecting prey.

Alight atop the barren trees
They roost in winter's chilling breeze.

On riverbanks the troops amass.
Unfrozen waters percolate,
unleashed from frigid sheets of ice.
The eagles perch and wait.

A muster, by instinct ordained,
where fish are readily obtained.

Efficient predators detect
a swarming school of tawny carp.
Descending raptors soar and dive -
a frenzied clash of claws.

Intrepid birds devour their loot
amid tumultuous dispute.

The hunting carries on for weeks
until the mountains beckon them
from places far away, to nest
among the rocky clefts.

The eagle squadrons mobilize
ascending into northern skies.




This is a Revanche poem - eight stanzas, alternating between quatrains and stanzas, combining blank and rhyming verse written in iambic tetrameter and trimeter.

Along the Kansas River in downtown Lawrence (Kansas), the (bald) eagles gather to take advantage of some of the only open water for hundreds of miles. The eagles will likely be present here any time from about mid-December to March if the temperatures have been below about 20 degrees for a week or so. When all the other area lakes, streams, and rivers have frozen over, this small stretch of Kansas River remains open due to a small low water dam located here.
http://www.kansasphototour.com/eagles.htm

Eagles come here in search of fish, waterfowl, and other small game, which are readily attainable due to the lack of ice coverings on the river. The water moves vigorously over this river dam in downtown Lawrence. I have had the privilege of observing these marvelous birds of prey. Bald eagles will often fight among themselves for the right to feast on their prey. The eagles return to their homes in the north when nature calls them to mate and nest.