“ . . . and potentially threaten the life of the owl
if it is inside its burrow during construction.”
Melinda Miller, in the Liberty Wildlife magazine WingBeats
There is an owl that goes
where no other one can, through the uppermost
layers of soil and the mind
where whole days are erased.
At midnight
do the mouse bones
crack when you walk
across them? Dream on,
look back, dig deep; if machines are ready
to take the land
night stands between them
and you.
A sudden blow
comes from the sky
or from the earth and the daylight
doesn’t feel a thing.
It’s impossible to see from underground
what happens, even
with spirit eyes.
Hurting goes on hold, there’s help
and darkness for protection.
In blackout time
the seconds tick black mercy.
David Chorlton
You can find out more about Wild at Heart’s Burrowing Owl Relocation Project in Arizona, here.