Photograph: Mark Brown, Boston Globe
What a treat! A poet who follows this blog just sent me two lovely poems about a snowy owl she once saw. Or perhaps I should say, she once experienced. She would appreciate feedback on the poems, so please let me know your reactions in the Comments feature. E-mail is fine, too, suzannesmom@lunandstella.com. (And if you have a photo of a snowy owl in flight, I will replace the rather contemplative owl from National Geographic, below.)
Snowy Owl, by Nancy Greenaway
White shuttle of silken feathers
wefting across cloud warp of winter gray,
silently weaving sky with sea,
looming above watching walkers
tucked between patchworks
of stone-bound fields
and folds of silvered awe.
Snowy Owl 2, by Nancy Greenaway
Wide-winged whiteness
sensed before seen
swooping soundlessly
under low-lying layers
of cloud gauze
white on white
white on gray
soft on soft
too large to be living
and airborne
too white to be
worldly and wild
floating unruffled
on drafts of arctic cold
piercing consciousness
not with bill
or talon
or quill
but with light
and motion
avian divinity
spirited from
another dimension
penetrating dusk
by force of feathers
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Those were both lovely–I like both the images and the sounds of the words as you say them.
I think I’m especially fond of the first because of how completely she plays with the metaphor.
I don’t have an image of a snowy owl flying, but if you go to Google images and put in the search “snowy owl in flight” (or “snowy owl flying”), you turn up some lovely ones. I liked this one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GbdBrEceVG4/TSxG3f7tjrI/AAAAAAAABtM/WTvWvSOxmm4/s1600/Snowy_Owl_Hunting_Wallpaper_3ynw1.jpg
neat! i liked the first one best.
She told me the owl swooped down at dusk as she was walking a while back with Kim G on a property off Corn Neck Road. She said it was Mystical.
The thing that’s so magical, and almost frightening, about owls flying is how completely silent they are.
Thanks so much for feedback on the poetry! And for the great owl.
Thank you for the encouraging and helpful responses.
I love the photo posted by asakiyume.
I hope I’ve captured the silence of the owl.
This was definitely fun for me, Nancy. I hope you will think of the blog as a place for your poetry often.
Thanks for the poetry. I have not read much poetry in english. I am learning, and that makes me feel alive.
I feel the same way about learning. I like to be learning new things all the time.