Sitting
in a canoe on Chilkoot Lake,
the
water a mirror reflecting clouds
and
mountains that rose from the lake’s bank,
I
listened to the many snowmelt waterfalls
and
reeled my lure slowly.
Not
far away, a duck and her brood
paddled
silently toward shore,
but
of a sudden,
the
duck quacked repeatedly
while
flapping its wings and spinning
at
which the ducklings did likewise,
splashing
and spinning in all directions.
I
then saw a shadow fall through sky,
an
eagle, diving into that chaos.
It
touched the water, and rose,
its
talons empty.
The
duck gathered its brood closely,
and
they continued toward shore
as
silently as before.
The
eagle dove again, chaos ensued,
and
again, the eagle failed.
On
the third attempt,
the
mighty eagle rose,
a duckling
in its claw.
It
flew to a tall stump and perched, ripped
into
the duckling and watched.
Before
the eagle could strike again,
the
duck and her brood reached shore
and
disappeared beneath the willows.
(SKJ 06/2016)
