Shelter in Place

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)