A work in progress...

Meadow Lark: The Desert Bard

In the frozen wastes of a western state
Starts an oft-repeated story
Of a singer who knows of life-long foes--
Every player, feathered or hoary

And the tale begins when the southwest winds
Breathe a promise of days to come
When the snows are gone and the days are long
And the migrant stray flies home

With a flash of wings the yellow bard sings
As a traveler flies the last leg
Of a journey from afar guided by a star
And the Great Horned settles on eggs

In a land dispute an eagle stoops
On an interloping falcon
And a raven falls with a raucous call
To escape the gryphon’s talon

In a bed of sticks three Raven chicks
In egg-shell blue lie hidden
And the pronghorn buck tests his luck
Against a horse that’s never ridden

The lark with horns anxiously scorns
A base of tufted grass
‘Till the watcher’s glance moves by chance
The eggs are warm at last

Then the chorus swells ‘neath the vernal spell
The Thrasher’s trill incites
A battle cry from a black bow tied
Defending sparrow sprite

The time has come as the snow succumbs
For the hawk with feathered legs
To set a course for the frigid north
As the Bluebird’s youngsters beg

Is that a feathered slug hanging snug
Deep within the brush?
Cat eyes peer ‘neath tufted ear
The Long-eared owl’s been flushed

The queen of the air watches with care
A pure white ball of down
Soaring high with piercing eye
She patrols the distant ground

Sage Grouse fellows pump yellow bellows
Vying for mating rights
Creeping ‘round a rocky mound
Elusive Chukars take flight

In one accord the cricket horde
Paves the dusty gravel
While the coyote pup, flushing a buck
Wisely opts to travel

The weasel pops, the ground squirrel drops
Six crimson gapes a’ beggin’
For a bit of fare from a harried pair
Of joint-custody ravens

The season turns as thunderheads churn
The heavens into butter
The Claret blossom turns deep plum
And the ground owl takes a lover

Crop circles form ‘round a ravaging swarm
Of hymenopteran farmers
A formic feast for a horny beast
Deliberately scaled and armored

A thorny spike to a hoarding shrike
Is a Big Sage Frigidaire
And the cicada’s drone of raspy tone
Marks a viper’s lair

The summer moon, a helium balloon
Seems tethered by a feather-light rock
A scorpion tail fluorescent pale
Lies on the butcher block

An audacious ball for one so small
The Red-tail chick complains
A wing-over cry from a blinding sky
As the diving guardian feints

Pulling with ease unbelievable G’s
While echoing the irate yammer
Of a tiny gape in a nesting scrape
The Falcon negotiates a hammer

Across the chest a sapphire vest,
A band like an ebony braid
A gravid-red touch? Is it too much?
See the Great Basin Reptile Parade

Spinning in his skin with a hissing grin
The badger turns the battle
Now wary feet beat a wise retreat
And the Storyteller tattles

This pugnacious beast discovers a feast
At the Desert Fried Chicken drive in
Then lumbers away with her precious prey
To set table for her munchkins

Lupine orbs form curling cords
A gift for a Painted Lady
The Indian grass parts to pass
A gangling Curlew baby

With tender care a foxy pair
Exchanges grooming favors
While a fledgling’s bold screeching scold
Is betrayed by a youthful quaver

The days are long and the heady song
Of the storyteller croons
To a Black-tailed jack kicking back
To beat the heat of June

The kestrel clings with quivering wing
To an exclusive parking space
Over lizard lox garnished with phlox
Waiting for his brunch to braise

The season’s done as one by one
Grown-up wings take flight
The horizon fades through crimson shades
That wink and turn to night.