by Eréndira Ramírez-Ortega
FALCON
for Esther
Watching my daughter swim in ripples
over the prickled floor of a wading pool
I’m spilled in a chair, beads of sweat under my shades,
the falcon mother poised to dive. Why is it
when I let her go
she becomes prey, the weight of my arms
contracting as the white down of her wings
change to feathers? As my instinct turns
relentless, she recoils like a
fired gun in the hand of a marksman;
as my courage emerges and my nest
grows hollow with every year, the twigs dropping underfoot,
her fertile soil, rich and
bewildered as a puzzle, is finding
its place in time. I watch her tumble
between bobbing toddlers. It’s then she
returns to kiss my nose and hook her arm through
the branch of what’s familiar.
Wonderful poem. Loved it!
Thank you, Surabhi for your kind words!