Predawn Sentinels

Performing their duet of desire and longing early in the winter morning.

The two of them
sit high atop
two giant pines
about 100 yards apart,
two out-of-sight sentinels
keeping watch over
our silent neighborhood.

Two perfectly still silhouettes,
their forms occasionally, faintly revealed
by a nearly full moon,
you have to work hard
to make them out 
as their tufted heads 
and dark feathered bodies
blend invisibly into
the branches and needles 
of the trees.

Reclusive and stealthy,
making no sounds
other than exchanging their
alternating hoots,
performing their duet
of desire and longing
early in the dark
winter morning. 

With a nearly imperceptible 
whoosh, one descends
from its perch 
and glides to the other,
settling high and deep
into the tree,
fully out of sight.

The hoots subside,
replaced by rustling branches above
and muffled utterances
of what I imagine 
two great horned owls
likely do in the wee hours
of a chilly January morning.