Unequal Contest - edit2

[matsunosuperfan]

At others
Catching talons

edit2;


A crow harassed a red-tailed hawk today,
black gestures twisting, flapping hard sometimes.
Crow tacked on escalator-steps of air
and struggled to gain place above, in front
of raptor which, gray swimmer in smooth sky,
responded lazily on banking wings.
Each time the striving crow had almost gained
position to attack, to stoop, to nip,
the heavy hawk – designed for lethal strikes-
extended, turning altitude to speed
and left the crow behind, a blowing chuff
of chaff not worth attacking but endowed
with wild ambition, laughter in the face
of unconcerned assurance, mortal grace.

---

@milo - You're right, those lines were unnecessary.  Sometimes I wonder why I write things like that... or leave them in.

Better. Still think this poem wants off the triggering subject instead of honing in on a preconceived moral which is then made explicit in the final couplet. But that may be a matter of taste. I find the approach here too romantic to really land in 2026, personally. 

Would love some more variety with register, "flapping hard sometimes" was a nice moment of mixing high and low.