WSR Poetry Corner: Flaco’s Odyssey

This poem was penned after WSR posted a story about Flaco’s remains being sent to the American Museum of Natural History. It came to us as a comment, but we thought it worthy of a wider audience.

In memory of Flaco:

FLACO’S ODYSSEY
by Judy Accurso

Precious Flaco!
Noble, majestic, courageous and bold
Your gleaming eyes, and your coat, a radiant mosaic of amber and gold
Magnificent to behold!

You lifted our spirits while spreading your wings
Unlocking for us all a number of things.

You did not seek to beckon or inspire us, or scatter magic pixie dust,
To help us look inside ourselves, to bring forth lofty sentiments, or to help us see,
Or to set free a dormant camaraderie

Your splendor summoned no conceit, no pompous peacock pride –
You only wanted to soar and to glide
To find a rooftop, sill, or tree – just to be.

Tracking your wanderings for over a year,
We watched as you coursed through our skies,
Flying not really so far, yet neither too near.

Then, to traverse a parallel universe seemingly was your fate –
To soar through some wormhole, tunnel, or eternal gate
To find a mate, to procreate,
To land on a distant ginko, oak, or elm
In some far-off unknown realm.

Flaco!
Glorious raptor, eluding capture, did you make prey of our love and rapture, then abscond?
Or, like Mary Poppins, did you move on and beyond
Bringing your wonder, your magic, and light
Through another miraculous flight
To awaken our cosmic counterparts to their own dormant joys, to uncloak, for them, their sleeping camaraderie –
Somewhere, somewhere, in some shimmering galaxy
In a happy place that we cannot see

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