FASCINATION
The owl is fascinated
by its prey, I deduce
watching one following
sounds beneath the snow
head tilted, attentive fully
to every nudge and rustle
a link with its prey evident
beyond a source of protein
something more attends
that goes beyond hungry need
it enjoys the image
no matter how surfeited, successful
always alert with the next one
there is a relationship here
that marks us both
the owl and I
just so I yearn and twitch
for assorted women always
attentive to their bodies
their motion, their being
the thought of them turning
our heads at all hours
of the day or night
victims, prey, salvation.
January 1998, Robert W. Nero