Maryland's Classical Music Station

Scene while stopped at a traffic light

Just across Liberty Road,

the hawk is circling–

her wings hardly moving;

the tips adjusting

while the hunter dips and rises,

riding the currents of air created by

the sun,

the breeze,

and the exhaust of the passing cars.

 

Beneath the hawk,

on the other side of Liberty Road

is a church with a playground

separating it from a power station.

 

And somewhere

in that uneven terrain

of swings,

benches,

bushes,

and power transformers,

a chipmunk,

a squirrel,

a rabbit,

a rat,

or maybe a pigeon

hides in the shadow

of the swings,

or a bench,

or a bush,

or a power transformer–

sooner or later,

having to emerge into view.

 

The hawk will then fold her wings

and begin the controlled free fall

toward the hapless prey

and take her feast

to a waiting nest.

 

But until that time,

the hawk is patient,

circling the scene,

dipping and rising,

knowing she will prevail.

 

Then the light changes.