I
The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,
The wing trails like a banner in defeat,
No more to use the sky forever but live with famine
And pain a few days: cat nor coyote
Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without talons.
He stands under the oak-bush and waits
The lame feet of salvation; at night he remembers freedom
And flies in a dream, the dawns ruin it.
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse.
The curs of the day come and torment him
At distance, no one but death the redeemer will humble that head,
The intrepid readiness, the terrible eyes.
The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those
That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant.
You do not know him, you communal people, or you have forgotten him;
Intemperate and savage, the hawk remembers him;
Beautiful and wild, the hawks, and men that are dying, remember him.
II
I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk; but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bone too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.
We had fed him six weeks, I gave him freedom,
He wandered over the foreland hill and returned in the evening, asking for death,
Not like a beggar, still eyed with the old
Implacable arrogance.
I gave him the lead gift in the twilight.
What fell was relaxed, Owl-downy, soft feminine feathers; but what
Soared: the fierce rush: the night-herons by the flooded river cried fear at its rising
Before it was quite unsheathed from reality.
Robinson Jeffers
Well, he could have shot an EAGLE.
Sounds bout right.
This smells like Brittney Spears.
The hawk just kept coming back for more? No way. Most hawks will fly miles away if you so much as look at them.
This dumbass wants to kill it with a golf ball.
Well the worm has turned for him. He used to make money from making a good shot, this particular well aimed shot should also cost him some significant money.
If this was some snot-nosed kid, I'd recommend therapy. But since this is a professional athlete, I'm speechless. According to the article, he came very close to hitting the bird, then took four more shots, eventually killing it. Obviously, he knew he could kill the bird and hit balls till he did just that.
I guess the hawk showed what happens if you just sit around when in danger expecting to be protected by the government.
I feel your pain (sort of).
I hope they throw the book at this arrogant, worthless, low life, cowardly POS, and all the other cowards who watched it happen, and did nothing. Someone should have kicked his ass on the spot!
All the self righteous twits actually believe that golfers can actually hit a 4-inch circle at 75 yards even one time out of 100?
Well, OK...
Maybe we need a fifteen day waiting period to buy golf equipment.
Of course, if golf clubs are outlawed, only outlaws will carry golf clubs.
Excellent post! Thank you!
What an A-hole to kill a beautiful raptor. Makes me furious.
Just an observation.
When I was on the rifle range at Parris Island, SC 38 years ago, there were always sea gulls around. As we moved from the 200 yard line back to the 300 and then to the 500, the gulls would land where we had been and scavenge around. It was a big no-no to ever shoot one of them. One of the guys did (at the urging of a DI). If they had ever got caught, there would have been hell to pay for both of them. Except the DI would have denied any part in it, no doubt.
This is silly. Birds move. Greens don’t. It’s much easier to hit a green than a bird. Of course he didn’t think he would actually hit the bird.
But if it is a crime to hit the bird, maybe the fact that it was semi-accidental doesn’t matter.
This moron has obviously never played or watched golf. NOBODY "puts the ball in the hole from hundreds of yards away." NOBODY. Heck, if you average making putts from 10 feet your a hell of a PGA professional. Yes, a 75 yard shot at a target 2 feet tall in a tree is a heck of a lucky shot.
This guy’s carer could be ruined for this stupidity. Imagine PETA members screaming in his backswing, every backswing, every hole, every tournament.