1 minute read
Winter’s Watchman, Sally Jamrog ’23
Winter’s Watchman
A silver owl sits upon a ladened bough, heavy with a blanket of weary dancers. After a whirling waltz, they cling together in collective sleep; under the pearled sky, they glimmer beneath the raptor’s eye.
Creeping roamers slink amid the peace, for a silver owl sits upon a ladened bough. No hiding places dwell among the drifts, as sleeping white betrays the ones who deign to question the solemn hunter’s reign.
Footsteps falter as a hooting sounds, then greedy, gulping silence burgeons anew; a silver owl sits upon a ladened bough. As a rosied hand lifts to a hopeful ear, wide eyes wish for the caller to appear.
A wolf moon blooms in the frigid bliss, tracing spotted feathers with milky fingers. Roving eyes settle on the knotted place where a silver owl sits upon a ladened bough. A secret smile beams beneath a hidden brow.
As booted feet plod a second path into the snow, creatures soundly trust their watcher’s gaze, a vigil for their safety, if they sleep. And in his fealty to this lonesome vow, the silver owl sits upon a ladened bough.