This poem was actually written many years ago, but an intriguing, recent post by my friend Roughwater John made me long to post it (Please don’t think I’m being a copy-cat, John! You just reminded me of my own ode to the beauty of them). My step-father is a licensed falconer and although he doesn’t currently have any birds, we grew up with him raising Red-tailed hawks, Goshawks, Red-shouldered hawks, kestrels and even an owl for years. I got a unique, up close and personal instruction on caring for birds of prey and their natural tendencies, habitats, etc. I’ve never lost my fascination with them.
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~ A Falconer’s Moment ~
I have borne witness to
the joy,
the freedom,
the power and strength
in hollow bones and feathers.
Taloned feet
that grip and crush,
yet wings that float
to the top of the world.
Sharp eyes that fathom
depths of air.
From heights of glory,
a streamlined structure
dives
back
to
earth,
faster than a man can run.
With a glove,
a hood,
and a few strands of leather,
I have shared moments
with hawks and falcons
that words cannot describe.
~ C.L.R. ~
© 2003
~ Dragon's Dreams ~ 
Hey DK, I am honored, and giddy like a little school girl (though don’t tell my fellow Pirates, they just wouldn’t understand) that I was an inspiration for you to resurrect something so powerful and wondrous. Your words emulate the beautiful creatures you describe. Your words also made me think of something else, perhaps Raptors are Dragons in disguise?
Thank you for posting this. I enjoyed reading it very much. Checking up on peoples poetry and writing is something I do often. I try to keep up with today’s trends so I’m more active in the writing community. Thanks again for sharing this.
🙂 Thank you for reading and for the kind words! I don’t pay much attention to trends, but I know how much of a challenge it can be to stay active and caught up in any kind of writing community.
😀 Oh, I’m so glad you weren’t offended! Thank you! As for Raptors being Dragons in disguise…hmmm…what an fantastic thought! It makes me think, there *were* dinosaur raptors/birds…“While it can’t be flatly stated that every single genus of raptor had feathers, enough fossils have been unearthed bearing evidence of this unmistakably bird-like trait to lead paleontologists to conclude that feathered raptors were the norm, rather than the exception. However, feathers didn’t go hand-in-hand with powered flight: while some genera on the fringes of the raptor family tree (such as Microraptor) seem to have been capable of gliding, the majority of raptors were completely land-bound. In any case, there’s no question that raptors are closely related to modern birds; the word “raptor” is also used to describe big-taloned birds like eagles and falcons.” From http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/raptors.htm
I don’t offend, yet do attend,
those friends I hold quite dear,
Their words a gift, I long to hear,
A treasure yet unwrapped,
Reading prose and thoughts of those,
I long to be enrapt’, for gems they be
from what I see, this chest I fear to close.
🙂
😀 Between you and Gary, I’m starting to look forward to which poetic comment I’ll get next! Thanks again, John.
shared moments with birds … that says it all, freedom is what you get in flying, what better feeling than freedom …
🙂 Thank you for understanding, Blaga!
beautiful …. have never tried falconry. had chickens when i was a kid, and since we had to box them up at night my blackie got scared and took a hunk out of my finger. since then any bird with a beak large enough to cause damage ….. well, i stay away from them and they stay away from me 🙂
🙂 Understood. Falconry has plenty of risks/dangers. One time, my step dad had one of his Red-tails, “Beeper” out on his glove and had just taken the hood off of her. He was telling me what part of the field line we were aiming for where the rabbits were staked to train the bird. Like a dumbass, I pointed toward where I thought he was talking about and Beeper jumped over to my bare arm before he could shout a warning or stop her. Her talons dug really deep into my arm and I think she hit a vein because I had a shooting pain all the way up to my shoulder. To my credit, I stayed calm and kept my arm still, although I was yelling in tremendous pain. He got her off of me pretty fast, but it was a valuable lesson – NEVER extend the arm without a glove on it! It’s a signal.