{"id":1382,"date":"2006-08-01T02:15:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-01T02:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/?p=1382"},"modified":"2014-10-01T03:42:17","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T03:42:17","slug":"hawks-on-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/?p=1382","title":{"rendered":"Hawks on display"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/em>\"\"<\/a> HURT HAWKS by Robinson Jeffers<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
“The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
The wing trails like a banner in defeat,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
No more to use the sky forever but live with famine<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
And pain a few days: cat nor coyote<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without talons.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
He stands under the oak-bush and waits<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
The lame feet of salvation; at night he remembers freedom<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
And flies in a dream, the dawn ruins it.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
The curs of the day come and torment him<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
At distance, no one but death the redeemer will humble that head,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
The intrepid readiness, the terrible eyes.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
You do not know him, you communal people, or you<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
have forgotten him;<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Intemperate and savage, the hawk remembers him;<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Beautiful and wild, the hawks, and men that are dying remember him.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
I’d sooner , except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk; but the great redtail<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Had nothing left but unable misery<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
From the bone too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
We had fed him six weeks, I gave him freedom,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
He wandered over the foreland hill and returned in the evening, asking for death,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Not like a beggar, still eyed with the old<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Implaccable arrogance. I gave him the lead gift in the twilight. What fell was relaxed,<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Owl-downy, soft feminine feathers; but what<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Soared: the fierce rush: the night-herons by the flooded river cried fear at its rising<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
Before it was quite unsheathed from reality.”<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

This is the only poem I know by Robinson Jeffers, but it has troubled me since I first read it. I sense the author’s great respect for the hawk and understand how that respect led him to give it *freedom* as he did, but don’t know that others would appreciate why it was the proper thing to do. Proper isn’t the right word for it, maybe truthful or honest would be a better word. Truthful to the nature of the hawk and all birds of prey. I might even extend that to all predators in similar circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel a deep sense of reverence for birds of prey. For wild birds of prey. For those that are captive, like the Bald Eagle above, I feel pity. Something so great as an eagle, an owl<\/a>, a Harris’ hawk<\/a>, or even a little kestral<\/a> is diminished by being held captive. That is a given, I’d guess. Captivity has its’ merits, but I question whether what is in the bird’s best interest isn’t sometimes lost in the name of *education*.<\/span><\/p>\n

These birds were on display last week at the county fair. Very popular show; this guy brings his act there most years. Usually I stay away because it bothers me so. This year I waited out a thunderstorm in his tent and took some pics and tried to decide if I was just being overly critical. After mulling it over for a few days while Blogger decided if it would let me make this post with pictures (it won’t) – I’ve decided that this guy and his *show* aren’t doing right by the birds. The general public loves being able to get so close – within arms reach- and the opportunity (for a few $$$) to be photographed *holding* one of these birds is a big draw. But to anyone who knows anything about them, or who respects them and can recognize the signs of their stress; it is something very far from worthy. Their was no respect or reverence here. Very little in the way of education – all show, no substance.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are organizations that do this right. I volunteer for one of the best<\/a> and know its educators to be fierce protectors of the birds in their care. That is how is ought to be.<\/span> <\/p>\n

Note: I apologize for the links to pics on Photobucket, but Blogger just won’t load these.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HURT HAWKS by Robinson Jeffers “The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder, The wing trails like a banner in defeat, No more to use the sky forever but live with famine And pain a few days: cat nor coyote Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without … Continue reading Hawks on display<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.somewhereinnj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}