I was walking in the woods one day, a couple of months past May, when this hawk chose a branch above my head and then proceeded to play. It moved just enough to keep my focus not quite right, and we were so close that sudden moves would give it flight. So we parried for a half-hour or so, and I would say the bird won our little game, suddenly shooting off the branch at some arcane angle defying both gravity and me.

© 2007 George J. Bancroft Sr.