Watching

( a Rensaku = linked tanka )    
      
a mother eagle      
scans horizon flying west      
to the canyon —      
two eaglets in a nest      
wait high atop a ridge        
       
outstretched wings      
ride a thermal updraft      
silent, on the hunt      
single-minded, piercing      
through the fading sunlight      
       
sweeping down      
into the canyon’s maw      
where daylight sleeps,      
we’ve set up camp, a fire      
& dine on humpback chub      
       
the rafts secure,      
each member of the group      
can hear the rapids      
upriver where we were      
earlier in the day      
       
I’ve brought along,      
who licks clean from a pan      
scraps of chub,      
my pal, my terrier Max      
who loves whitewater rafting      
       
he looks at me        
(is there anymore left!)      
and snorts as I      
pretend to toss him a      
piece he thinks I’m hiding     
       
a high-pitched cry,      
commotion in the camp      
as the eagle        
strafes us with its pass & call      
while everyone scatters      
       
cacophony      
echos against canyon walls,      
the mother swoops      
into the confusion      
and banks around Max      
       
swinging a stick      
I try hard to distract      
as she targets my dog,      
one of the men aims a gun      
I scream DON’T DO IT!!      
       
I fall back into      
a shower of sparks as I        
watch, helpless —      
the eagle sinks her talons      
in Max and carries him off