I, THE HAWK
            Charles Albano
                c. 1998
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	Weightless,
	I spiral on unseen currents,
	loftily, without effort
	I leave the earth behind
	on a soft breeze
	absorbing the kissing sun
	up here blanketed from all sound
	save the soft flutter
	of my feathers.
	I oversee the earth,
	the continuous struggle
	for perspective and position,
	knowing my place--
	alone,
	and uninhibited,
	I choose my direction and
	remain aloft as long as
	it suits me.
	I, the hawk,
	free as air
	define my days,
	gliding unnoticed,
	dreamlike through broad loops,
	my shadow lost in the landscape,
	and for an instant,
	I know
	I am the finishing detail
	in God's composition.


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(c) Charles Albano,1998. All Rights Reserved.

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