Flight of the Mallards

We sat relaxed beside the lake
Within the cottage small,
The draperies for another day
Had just begun to fall.

We gazed out o're the rippling waves
That glistened from our light,
The sounds of crickets filled the air
To mar the silent night.

Three mallards fluttered into view,
Then dropped upon the brim.
A hungry hawk in close pursuit
Flew on to find a limb.

He eyed his prey voraciously,
And kept an eagle eye,
That he might be the captor
When they took off to fly.

Each moment eased the tension,
As they flapped their wings in glee,
While staying in the water
Their instinct deemed them free.

But calmness never seems to reign,
With animal or man,
So, when the sonic boom broke loose
They winged the Heavens span.

We never knew the ending
Yet to us their sudden flight,
Wrought another Nature study
On a quiet summer night.

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