When the ferruginous hawk took flight

from the prairie dog town mound with

talons wrapped round one of the locals,

his breakfast sank its teeth into his toe,

and with attention turned from a swift

lift above the highway,

he met his end on a windshield, fell

to the shoulder and released his prey,

which scurried home to tell the tale of

salvation by car, while the lifeless wings

of the hawk continued to rise and fall in

the slipstream moving past.

Dana Hughes © 9.22.21