The Dalliance of the Eagles

Skirting the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest)

Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles

The rushing amorous contact high in space together

The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel

Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling

In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling

Till o'er the river pois'd, the twain yet one, a moment's lull

A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing