Blowing at the Sky
Dreaming across the face of a snow-tipped mountain,
one Golden Eagle.
It’s just before sunset,
but voices urging south muffle hunger, fatigue,
the bird will not sleep tonight.
Three hundred solitary shadows
cast over the limestone since morning,
each one a kingdom unto itself.
An old man by the river,
open ledger, telescope.
Two women taking turns with children,
binoculars, a sixteen-year old
speaking in tongues:
over number 3,
left of Mt. Rundle,
approaching big smile,
each pair of eyes glued to a spec of dust,
the count must be accurate,
leaving the second cliff
over the big hole.
It’s a young one,
the river whispers in a gravelly voice.
To the east, giants cross swords
over who will pluck the last lobster from the sea,
to the west, they butt heads
for the last fir fit for lumber.
On the grassy shore of the Kananaskis,
an old man adds a checkmark in the appropriate space,
two women massage their necks,
a boy breathes in breathes out.
Sliding from one updraft to the next,
the eagle.
~ Anna Mioduchowska
Poet, translator, author of stories, essays and book reviews, Anna Mioduchowska has lived in Edmonton most of her life. Her most recent work appears in: Edmonton on Location, River City Chronicles, published by NeWest Press, Writing the Terrain, a poetry anthology, U of Calgary Press, and Dance the Guns to Silence : 100 poems for Ken Saro Wiwa, by Flipped Eye Publishing in London England. Her collection of poetry, In-Between Season, was published by Rowan Books.
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