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The Eagle Within
By Marty RicKard
The rancher watched the storm clouds
building ‘round the mountain peak
He saw the lightning flash
and heard the eagles shriek
And through the night
the winds
came slashing from the west
And ‘twas the wind that blew
the tiny eaglet
from the safety of its nest
Far below
the eaglet fell
into a muddy chicken pen
where it was promptly taken in
by a worried
The months slipped by so swiftly
and soon the bird was grown
but he lived a lowly chicken's life
for it was all he'd ever known
One day the rancher noticed
the eagle scratching in the dirt
At first he thought it funny
but later on
it made him hurt
It's wrong
he thought so sadly
that in his chicken pen
there now abides
a full-grown eagle
who thinks that he's a hen
The rancher took the bird
to a cliff
so very high
five thousand feet
straight down it fell
He'd teach this "hen" to fly
He hurled the eagle off the cliff
and whispered ‘neath his breath
I'd rather see you truly die
than live a life of death
Two thousand feet
the eagle fell
like a chicken
filled with fear
then suddenly those mighty wings
with a
whoosh
that all could hear
extended
six
no seven feet
and when the eagle looked around
he saw the chickens
running far below
from his shadow on the ground
It was then that he discovered
what every eagle knows
He'd rather be the king of birds
slashing through the air
than a chicken in the dirt
scratching for his fare
And far above
a teardrop fell
from the rancher's eye
He thought how wonderful it was
he'd taught a "chicken" how to fly
And so it is
with each of us
it matters not our birth
we have our choice of scratching
or soaring o'er this earth
(IF YOU ENJOYED THIS POEM, DON'T MISS "MY PATH IN THE WOODS" ON THIS SITE BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
MARTY RICKARD BIO
Marty RicKard holds a BS degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also has a Masters Degree in photography. Marty was a technical writer for White Motor Company, and page one editor for four Iowa daily papers. He owned New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist. For ten years, Marty's regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards and has lectured in 48 states. He is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He has published three books. He currently is editor of his local newspaper in Florida.
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