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The Great Horned Owl
By David Madrid
 The Great Horned Owl didn’t know
That such a weapon could be made of snow.
The snowball hit him hard and square.
Broke his wing, knocked him out of the air.
The attacker was cruel and pelted the bird.
He almost killed the owl; how utterly absurd.
Luckily a family drove by in their car.
They had just left church and weren’t going far.
The dad sent his two sons to stop the attacker,
Who ran like a coward, obviously an ignorant slacker.
The older brother used gloves to pick up the owl,
Who fought as bravely as any killer fowl.
 They put him in the car and took the wounded bird home.
One wing fluttered wildly, the other was blown.
The owl was given shelter inside the storage shed.
He hated being cooped up, but at least he wasn’t dead.
The raptor looked about him with the eyes of a killer.
The family dog was fearless, but the bird set him aquiver.
The owl sized up the hound; was he small enough to eat?
The black dog was too big, too tough and too fleet.
The sister named the broken-winged owl Tedford.
The family marveled at the fierceness of the bird,
Whose eyes looked through you with the depth of a hunter;
His sharp beak could cleave your skin all asunder.
 Both of the sons and the daughter too,
Loved the owl as only a family would do.
They gave him scraps and leftovers to eat,
Still, in his mind, he craved bloody fresh meat.
He continued to perch and consider the hound,
Who tried to sneak by with nary a sound.
Most the family knew what the great horned owl intended,
And they were relieved when his wing was finally mended.
Only the youngest son could not, would not let go.
The owl was his, and that was all anyone needed to know.
So one night the boy played in a school basketball game,
And the oldest son offered to take on the blame.
 He opened the door to the owl’s lonely shed.
With one mighty hop, the great bird bounded and fled.
The sadness of losing his bird was so great,
Only years later did the boy understand it was fate,
That the great horned owl could only survive,
As a hunter who flew and killed in the night.
So fly, fly away my long-winged ferocious brother,
The sky is your father, the earth is your mother.
Eat the rodents that scurry as they cross your path;
Kill the slithering serpent that must suffer your wrath.
But always remember it was a family that dared,
To stop that snowy day because they truly cared.
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