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The Hawk's Cry in Autumn

ByJoseph Brodsky

Wind from the northwestern quarter is lifting him high above

the dovegray! "rimson! umber! brown

Conne"ti"ut #alley$ %ar beneath!

"hi"kens daintily pause and move

unseen in the yard of the tumbledown

farmstead! "hipmunks blend with the heath$

&ow adrift on the airow! unfurled! alone!

all that he glimpses(the hills) lofty! ragged

ridges! the silver stream that threads

quivering like a living bone

of steel! badly not"hed with rapids!

the townships like strings of beads

strewn a"ross &ew *ngland$ Having slid down to nil

thermometers(those household gods in ni"hes(

free+e! inhibiting thus the ,re

of leaves and "hur"hes) spires$ -till!

no "hur"hes for him$ .n the windy rea"hes!

undreamt of by the most righteous "hoir!

he soars in a "obaltblue o"ean! his beak "lamped shut!

his talons "lut"hed tight into his belly

("laws balled up like a sunken ,st(

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sensing in ea"h wisp of down the thrust

from below! glinting ba"k the berry

of his eyeball! heading southsoutheast

to the /io 0rande! the 1elta! the bee"h groves and farther still2

to a nest hidden in the mighty groundswell

of grass whose edges no ,ngers trust!

sunk amid forest)s odors! ,lled

with splinters of redspe"kled eggshell!

with a brother or a sister)s ghost$

The heart overgrown with esh! down! feather! wing!

pulsing at feverish rate! nonstopping!

propelled by internal heat and sense!

the bird goes slashing and s"issoring

the autumnal blue! yet by the same swift token!

enlarging it at the e3pense

of its brownish spe"k! barely registering on the eye!

a dot! sliding far above the lofty

pine tree4 at the e3pense of the empty look

of that "hild! ar"hing up at the sky!

that "ouple that left the "ar and lifted

their heads! that woman on the stoop$

But the uprush of air is still lifting him

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higher and higher$ His belly feathers

feel the nibbling "old$ Casting a downward ga+e!

he sees the hori+on growing dim!

he sees! as it were! the features

of the ,rst thirteen "olonies whose

"himneys all pu5 out smoke$ 6et it)s their total within his sight

that tells the bird of his elevation!

of what altitude he)s rea"hed this trip$

What am . doing at su"h a height7

He senses a mi3ture of trepidation

and pride$ Heeling over a tip

of wing! he plummets down$ But the resilient air

boun"es him ba"k! winging up to glory!

to the "olorless i"y plane$

His yellow pupil darts a sudden glare

of rage! that is! a mi3 of fury

and terror$ -o on"e again

he turns and plunges down$ But as walls return

rubber balls! as sins send a sinner to faith! or near!

he)s driven upward this time as well8

He8 whose innards are still so warm8

-till higher8 .nto some blasted ionosphere8

That astronomi"ally ob9e"tive hell

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of birds that la"ks o3ygen! and where the milling stars

play millet served from a plate or a "res"ent$

What! for the bipeds! has always meant

height! for the feathered is the reverse$

&ot with his puny brain but with shriveled air sa"s

he guesses the truth of it2 it)s the end$

And at this point he s"reams$ %rom the hooklike beak

there tears free of him and iesad luminem

the sound *rinyes make to rend

souls2 a me"hani"al! intolerable shriek!

the shriek of steel that devours aluminum4

:me"hani"al!; for it)s meant

for nobody! for no living ears2

not man)s! not yelping fo3es)!

not squirrels) hurrying to the ground

from bran"hes4 not for tiny ,eld mi"e whose tears

"an)t be avenged this way! whi"h for"es

them into their burrows$ And only hounds

lift up their mu++les$ A pier"ing! highpit"hed squeal!

more nightmarish than the 1sharp grinding

of the diamond "utting glass!

slashes the whole sky a"ross$ And the world seems to reel

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for an instant! shuddering from this rending$

%or the warmth burns spa"e in the highest as

badly as some iron fen"e down here

brands in"autious gloveless ,ngers$

We! standing where we are! e3"laim

:There8; and see far above the tear

that is a hawk! and hear the sound that lingers

in wavelets! a spider skein

swelling notes in ripples a"ross the blue vault of spa"e

whose la"k of e"ho spells! espe"ially in

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on"e more one makes out "urls! eyelets! strings!

rainbowlike! multi"olored! blurred

"ommas! ellipses! spirals! linking

heads of barley! "on"entri" rings(

the bright doodling pattern the feather on"e possessed!

a map! now a mere heap of ying

pale akes that make a green slope appear

white$ And the "hildren! laughing and brightly dressed!

swarm out of doors to "at"h them! "rying

with a loud shout in *nglish! :Winter's here8;