Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A STUFFED EAGLE, by LILLIAN LOWRY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A STUFFED EAGLE, by                    
First Line: Space - / the shadow of your wings
Last Line: Stuffed liberty!
Subject(s): Birds; Eagles


Space --
the shadow of your wings
Upon the clouds below
Follows your own desire
Which, when pursued, attained,
Fades into space again.
Another time,
Another, and yet another,
Your wings flash --
Soar!
But what is time or space,
Pursuit, attainment, or the like
To you, winged Liberty?
You sport above the clouds
Or poise in flight,
Wild eye alight and head half-turned
To hear the voices of the winds
Flung from majestic peaks
Your wings have scorned;
You catch the dawn glints on raw, reddened rock;
The whine of day through space;
The rustle of night settling down;
The lull of the moon's wheels across the sky;
Then dawn again --
And flashing through the day
Your shadow falls on envious man
Whose cunning pulled you from your height
And brought you here to stand
Above a courtroom door.

Walls --
North, south, east, west.
The shadow of your wings
Upon the floor below
Shifts with the gray light,
And the light moves as reluctantly
As feet that stumble to the witness stand.
But what are stumblings or reluctance or the like
To halls of justice -- or to you, stilled Liberty?
So naturally you're poised with wings outstretched
Under white, silent stars within a field of blue,
Cold eye and head half-turned
To hear the murmurings of justice --
The whine of voices swearing solemn oaths,
Sonorous pleas and querulous defense,
Staccato bark of cross-examiners,
The rustle of reporters' yellow sheets;
You catch wild hope's glint in red, rheumy eyes
That search about for crumbs where Justice sits.
So naturally you're poised with wings outstretched --
But cotton stifles where life rioted --
Stuffed liberty!





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