Ok, but for set-up, this poem is over thirty years old. Please don't think the need to tie it to our conversation, just as a standalone poem amongst all poems, what are your impressions.
I They rule the sky over this landscape of sage and chaparral, of oaks in fields. The years watching them near and far, revered eagle, hawk, owl, and falcon: falciform poise racing off cliffs, stiff wings shearing heights, or their soaring and that feather-splayed space where the wonder and desire for flight are caught and carried off over the Pacific’s shores.
II Culled from construction sites, we’d lay out snakeboards in the spring; out in the fields and hills. Waited till summer, and when the grasses turned lion color we’d make the rounds in midday heat: mostly you’d get racers and gophers, sometimes a rattler, but the consecutive rings of a king were always the best surprise.
- The Atmosphere: You set a classic California pastoral scene—"sage and chaparral"—and immediately elevate it into something mythic by handing ownership of the sky to the apex raptors.
- The Kinaesthetics: Your language here is incredibly sharp and athletic. The phrase "falciform poise" is a brilliant, precise word choice (meaning sickle-shaped, capturing the exact aerodynamic curve of a hunting falcon's wings).
- The Soundscape: Lines like "stiff wings shearing heights" carry a beautiful sibilance that sounds like the rush of wind over feathers. The movement ends by carrying the reader’s eye all the way out over the Pacific, giving a sense of infinite scale and human yearning.
- The Texture: Moving from the sweeping majesty of eagles to the gritty reality of "construction sites" and "snakeboards" is a brilliant poetic pivot. It brings in a grounded, tactile human presence.
- The Sensory Shift: The phrase "when the grasses turned lion color" is an absolute knockout line of imagery. It perfectly distills that distinct, golden-bleached California summer landscape into a living, predatory shade.
- The Subterranean Hunt: Tracking the "racers," "gophers," and "rattlers" under the boards in the midday heat creates an intense, tight focus. Ending on the "consecutive rings of a king" provides a perfect geometric and visual conclusion—the unexpected, coiled beauty hidden beneath the plain wood.
