Mark Hammerschick
|
Eagle
Gliding as if there was no weight a jumble of feathers wide as an F-15EX but much smoother on the heated updrafts along a lonely stretch of bald cypress at the edge of an Everglades hollow he hunts running silent running deep fathoms of feathers and flight trajectory depthless no sound only a blur downward seconds pass then the claws a flurry of dust and prize fighter moves as the raptor shears mice meat minced and splattered shattered and scattered I know the feeling listing taking on water bilge pumps a faded memory how the terror in your eyes grip this infinitely quiet moment faint breaths then the silence as the bird emerges from the field silent flight bright back towards the sun back into light where your breath is on its way ascending… Dinkinesh Rising from the Savanna Some say the world will end in fire some say it will end in ice either way it’s going to end there is no doubt about that for in thinking about our future we think about our end millions of years mark those moments when time stops like on that Kenyan plain when Australopithecus aferensis Lucy first figured out that a sharp stone shaft cuts hide better than her gnarled nails at that point in our existence as a species the savanna shook jolted our brains into opportunity and as she took those steps on the staircase to infinity she knew that one day we would move beyond the grass beyond the rivers and mountains continent to continent world to world as we descend from dark matter moments before we land on the surface of Polaris light years beyond redemption returning to our origin how where we came from is where we return how in our search for our selves means going back to where we were spawned inside our mother’s womb in that moist floating sea where the future is yet to be created… Mark writes poetry and fiction. He holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a BS and MBA. He began writing in grade school and has contributed a number of poems to literary journals over the years and has been published sporadically. He is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area and currently lives in a northern suburb near the shore of Lake Michigan and in Naples, Florida. His current work will be appearing in: Calliope, Former People Journal, Sincerely Magazine, Mignolo Arts, Blue Lake Review, Naugatuck River Review, East on Central, Grey Sparrow Journal, Griffel and The Rockvale Review. |