Dave Crawley - Eye of the Hawk

Eye of the Hawk
by
Dave Crawley

Broad wings hover in a cloudless sky.
Shadow on meadows where songbirds fly.
Bright eyes gleaming, from a world on high.
     The tall blue sky of the hawk.

Red-tailed raptor with a taste for prey.
Nail-sharp talons that will have their way.
The hunter rules at the end of day.
     Beware the eye of the hawk.

Blacksnake slithers where a field mouse stirred.
House wrens flee from the great, brown bird.
For one lone creature, the last sound heard:
     The hungry cry of the hawk.

©Dave Crawley. All rights reserved.

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First off... congratulations to Dave Crawley, winner of this year's March Madness (poetry style, that is)! Dave ran off a string of created-under-pressure poems based on assigned words (like his tourney ending entry using "bumbershoot" or his semifinal battle where his "sesquipedalian" poem barely topped vs. M. M. Socks' "portmanteau" verse) that was epic, impressive, and a whole lot of fun, too.

Now, if you followed March Madness or have read any of Dave Crawley's books, you'll know that he's got an incredible ability to make folks laugh. He turns a phrase and plays with words like nobody's business. In fact, he sent me a very funny poem as well as Eye of the Hawk, but I chose the latter because what I think often gets lost for those of us who write funny is that, well... I mean, look at the word choice, the imagery, the hidden rhymes and all that good stuff! It's there in all his funny stuff, too, but if you ignore it here, well, you'll end up prey, I tell ya!

I step off my soapbox with an entreaty that you find Dave Crawley's books and re-read his Madness poems. Or just enjoy the Hawk and see why I'm thrilled to have him here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday, Lesléa Newman gave us Teen Angels. Tomorrow, the 2013 edition of 30 Poets/30 Days finishes up with Naomi Shihab Nye and Driving Back.