The Flight of the Osprey

the osprey flies alone
riding shifting currents
of rising air
under battered wing

circling slowly above
the calm water of the bay

a southerly picks up
the afternoon blows away

the smog the distant hazey horizon clears

here is a city
 in its own thinning atmosphere at the edge of space

this eagle swoops
 suddenly...
 to the oceans surface      
                                           dives in for a kill


sleek in its cold desire
 in its hunger
ochre wings

flash its white-banded neck
pure colour in the light

in sun-warmed safety,

 I watch from
the sanctuary of its shore.