The Eaglet

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser, wild harpy eagle chick (5 months old)

Note: Harpy eagles are critically endangered. There may

be as few as 50 nesting pairs remaining in the wild.

What if your nest

was a cathedral?

And, why isn’t it?

We all yearn for sanctuary

under the same tempest

skies.

Here I feel I should humbly

and somewhat awkwardly

confess,

I am human.

What would you think of that?

I wonder.

Do other species feel the

need to apologize for

inhabiting their own skin?

What has humanity granted

either one of us?

Thank you.

I have the answer in the way

you look at me:

“This moment,” you say.

“This moment.”

And it’s true.

It is in this moment that

we get to decide

who and what 
we want

to be.

It’s always in ‘this moment.’

The red mud feels cold and wet

as it hugs my right knee.

This I can do to honor you,

because I am human.

© 2012-2019/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems"