Who Hunts the Hunter?
The owl sat in the middle of the gravel road;
its wings an umbrella over some unseen prey.
It was noon. I wondered what it had caught:
a field mouse, lizard or snake. I drove the car slowly,
the owl took off, I never saw its victim.
I was saddened by the demise of some small creature
but realized that the bird must eat, maybe feed its young.
But what hunts the barred owl. A great horned owl.
Who kills? We all kill; the reasons
are many but fear of differences leads the way.
Somewhere along our path, we will meet the great horned owl.
Arlington Literary Journal
2025
