Dusk hides nothing
From the Night Eagle, himself hidden in the trees,
With feathers & wings of sandy hue,
Bulbous eyes black as his native grove.

Nyctophilian bird
Watches the wildness
In deep darkness,
Observes change in weather & seasons

From the hollows of oaks,
Broad branches of redwoods,
Not a thing escapes his careful,
Penetrating gaze under the stars.

Red men claim the Night Eagle is
The spirit of one of their departed,
Brought back to Earth in avian form,
Protective, insightful, wiser than he was in life—

He gives a sharp chorus of hoots,
Spreads his wings and flies after intruders
On the ground, chasing those field
Rats back to holes within nightly abyss

Before the slow coming of day—
The Night Eagle,
Watcher of the woods, wings of sandy hue, black eyes,
Is my spirit animal

According to
A spinning
Colour wheel
On an iPad

On a table
Under a tent
A pretty blonde
Park Ranger directed me to

During the Stand For The Redwoods
Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens, S.F.—
Colour wheel
Rotated clockwise

By the touch of my index finger on screen,
Then slowed in pace.
Right-side arrow
Landed on

Yellow: Northern Spotted Owl.
I don’t believe in this spirit animal nonsense at all.
But the traits the fabled Night Eagle has—
Vigilance, insight, wisdom—lie in me nonetheless.

African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California. Active on the creative writing & Spoken Word tips since the early 1990s. Author of 4 books Boneyard, Unwritten Law, Stormwater and his newest, Skeletal Black and 18 anthology appearances including Poets 11: 2014, Rise and Your Golden Sun Still Shines, to name a few under his figurative belt so far.