The Taliesin Soliloquies: Hawk

[image error]I will catch you with my eyes alone,

freeze you in mid-flight.

Fierce-stare,

my shriek splits the sky.

Wind-hover,

I am master of the air.

I am the calm at the centre of the storm,

the eye of the tempest –

nothing escapes my lightning-gaze.

You cannot hide, little bird,

The slightest movement, and I shall strike.

My fatal blow, the last thing you’ll know.

My talons, the reaper’s sickle.

My beak will break your neck.

Why fear? You won’t feel a thing

when you’re dead.

I have a whole autumn

in my feathers.

Sharp-shadow,

I wear the forest’s shroud.

I am the birthmark on the sun’s face.

I come to blot out your light,

the last thing you’ll ever see.

 

Death’s friend, come to take your hand.

Let me free you

from your tiny parcel of soul.

 

Copyright © Kevan Manwaring 2010

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From ‘The Taliesin Soliloquies’, originally published in The Way of Awen: journey of a bard, O Books 2010; to be included in the forthcoming Silver Branch: bardic poems by Kevan Manwaring, Awen, 2017 https://www.awenpublications.co.uk/