Natural Law

Central Park: we watched a hawk
Who picked apart his prey.
Many people gathered ‘round
To witness this display.

I thought he must be pulling at
A squirrel or a rat,
The creatures he’d encounter
In his urban habitat.

But soon I realized I was wrong
‘Cause, though it seems absurd,
The dinner he was picking at
Most likely was a bird.

I recognized its tail, by shape,
When lifted by his beak;
But really, what alerted me
Were all the birds, a’shriek.

For fellow avians came near
A’flutter and attacking;
They swooped right down and grazed that hawk
As he was gamely snacking.

I gave them credit for their nerve –
So brash, so bold, so brazen;
They tried so hard to vex that hawk,
Like outlaws, guns a’blazin’.

The hawk ignored them, had his meal
Then flew off, with pursuers;
The birds still hounded, but his flight
Dispersed the human viewers.

Yet we were grateful for the show –
Real nature, in the flesh.
You never know when natural law
And life will chance to mesh.