She stared out the window all morning
Watching the busy birds
They twittered and twirled
fluttered and flocked:
Winged privateers on the high seas
Of the family garden
Carelessly searching the trees and grass
For any hidden prize
Mother laughed.
"What's wrong with you, Button?
Why such a mournful mewing?"
Don't call me Button
She thought, without speaking
My name is
Fighting Falcon, Enduring Eagle, or Howling Hawk -
At least, it ought to be one of those.
Button cackled glumly at the birds
It's not fair
That I must sit behind the glass
While they roam free
"I suppose you want to chase the sparrows?"
Said Mother:
"You just keep on threatening them.
I'm sure they're scared."
Button flicked her tail
And bristled to twice her size
While remembering her favorite dream:
On stretched pinions
She swept over the fields
And dove towards her target
With piercing talons she
Crushed and crunched her prey
Then she cleaned her iridescent feathers
So silken and stunning
And, taking to the spellbound sky,
Her flapping wings blurred and dazzled.
Caught up in the moment,
She released her imperial cry
For the whole house and yard to hear.
But Mother just giggled and remarked,
"That was quite a yowl
I suppose you think you're a lion..."
by Christy Noel
5/12/03