River on Baltic Sea

Night Safari 6 – Wedding in Wilderness

A flower falls from a Poinciana bush.
It pirouettes, and
One of Its petals falls away, but rises,
Like a flame, red in the rain.

An owl is watching the scene like
Reading an old map lying next to a lit nightstand,
Imagining its color and forgetting its prey.

The drizzle continues as an illusion of eternity.
The soul carrier moves on and passes the bushes.

The owl blinks its yellow eyes. It finds the soul frozen in time.
Fine face, brown eyes, dressed in white.
Brooch on the chest, basjoo leaf with carvings and shine.
He’s reaching for someone.

Slowly, the owl turns its head backward, until it
Faces the moon, her glow in its eyes:

Dressed in white. Reflection of the sun.
The moon dazzles the gazer. Frozen in motion.
Beyond the unraveling mist. Away from this shower.
She hangs low.
Leaving long trails of shadow on the long road.
Tens of thousands of miles it travels.

The owl decides not to wait for their union and to go on hunting.
Chances are its prey growing tinier and its vision growing better.

Suddenly the owl sees someone out of the corner of its eye.
Who picks up the petal and follows behind.
The owl tilts its head, looking into the forest deep.
Where the someone is passing shadows of
A herd of Oribi and a troop of Patas monkey.
Hardly touching anything.

Before anyone knows, the owl has taken flight.
It glides in silence through the night, aiming for the vanishing point of the road and its sight.
The tallest thing against the moonlight.