Writers’ Weir: The Family at Eagle Rock

THE FAMILY AT EAGLE ROCK

BY ROBERT WINFREE

Sipping my morning coffee and wiping my bleary eyes,

I looked out the bay view window, when to my great surprise,

two eagles came into my view, flying up and away from the beach.

I grabbed right away for my camera, and fiddled with knobs I could reach.

The first was a mottled brown youngster and that one flew straight at me,

then banked at the front porch window, and dove for a branch in the tree.

His white-headed parent passed over, and rose to perch on a snag.

But my stiff old fingers moved slowly, and barely one photo I’d bagged,

when another one flew past our window, adding wonder to my shock.

Thus was my first introduction to the family at Eagle Rock.

I saw them in the weeks that followed, at least daily they came to our tree.

We grew to love this family of eagles, two bald and one brown, did we.

Robert Winfree celebrates the wonders of life and imagination through science, photography, art and writing. He is currently focused on creating and sharing memories about Alaska’s public lands as an artist-in-residence for Alaska’s state and national parks.

To submit to Writers’ Weir, email editor Mary Catharine Martin at editor@capweek.com. Fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction accepted as space and competition allow.

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