the dark side

the entrails clustered on the lawn
told a terrible tale, glossy gray,
freshly gouged, some unsuspecting 
hare no doubt, perhaps a squirrel,
had met its end, its body and its 
sinewed flesh swiftly whisked away

the birds that morn were hush and hid
far from the gruesome scene, no happy 
chirps, no fluttering, the silence,
it was deafening, memories of a 
victim’s final, terror-stricken
screams, left fading in the wind

feeders filled with tasty millet, 
thistle, sunflower seeds were left
swaying in the breeze, the winter hawk
returned once more to snatch the sun 
baked guts, as if nothing horrid 
happened, slowly life resumed its hum

nature hides an underside, a dark
reality, a cruel truth…survival 
to the fittest, or the fortunate, live
long enough to procreate, purpose 
fulfilled, with nothing more to prove 
the cycle of life is ever on the move

the food chain churns, the world 
turns, we all succumb one day, 
a wise bird heeds the signs and
sounds, a screeching hawk who 
blocks the sun, and knows it’s time
to hide away, to see another day

~kat

Na/GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 18 Prompt: Today, we don’t challenge you to write all of a long, dramatic, narrative poem, but we invite you to try your hand at writing a poem that could be a section or piece of one. Include rhyme, include unlikely and dramatic scenes (maybe a poem about a bank robbery! Or an avalanche! Or Roman gladiators! Or an enormous ball held by mermaids, where there is an undercurrent (hee) of palace intrigue!) Basically, a poem with the plot of an opera (evil twins! Egyptian tombs! Star-crossed lovers! Tigers for no apparent reason!)

I chose to write today about the reality of nature. Having a front row seat these past few years has given me a deeper understanding of the magnificent, beautiful, and yes, fierceness of nature. This actually happened. I have learned I needn’t intervene or assist. Nature takes care of its own here in the woods. In town if i encountered something dead in my yard, or along the road, I wouldn’t hesitate to dispose of it if I could. But I am learning how efficient nature is. The cycle of life takes care of all manner of things…no cleanup on aisle three needed. There are magnificent creatures born for just such tasks. Even the trees when they fall become home to all forms of life before returning to the earth.

My glimmer today might be an unusual one, but it is the very hawk, the “villain” of the tale above, who is actually no villain at all. It is just a cog in the ever turning wheel that is the cycle of life. This particular hawk, a regular on our little acre here is magnificent! I hope you agree!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat✨✨✨💚✨✨✨