Where Eagles Fly


By g.l. bass ( the ghostbear still lives)
For Prairie du Chien
02/02/01

This is where……
Land's broad shoulders
Fall and rise
Against the sky,
Round, vast hills
Cliffs, valleys, bluffs
Bulging and plunging,
All crawl
A slow cascade,
Iceage
Granite fall down
Into the river of life,
The great Mississippi.

This is where……

All day and all night
Trains meander
And shout rhythmic, thunderous
Calls while they wind
Along the waist edge
Of the river.
Up from southern ports,
Through Iowa's door,
Finally northward toward
Canada's border,
Heavy freights haul
Their burden in slow crawl.
All small children
Born along the river know,
The song that flows
One voice amidst
Freight trains warning cries,
The River's roar and rise
When ice melts and snow runs
Down across and through the land
Where Eagles Fly.


This is where…..
Deep snows
Melt and run
Down from
High woodlands
Across river ridges,
Over waterfall bluffs,
Down Hundreds of feet
From secluded graveyards
Hidden in the sky,
Down round in rivulets
Turned sparkling streams,
Singing in morning sun
Run down staircase valleys
Wrapped around secret farms,
Finally undone into the
Great Mississippi.

This is where. …..

Midnight barns
Ring in dim light
To the sounds of
New calves brought
Into new life.
And children believe,
With all their hearts,
Farm life is the way
All children grow
To see the world.
They stand for hours
Along the riverbanks
With raised eyes,
Faces against the sun,
As if in salute
To winter skies,
And their hearts soar high
Where Eagles Fly.

This is where…..

The cold blood of winter
Washes anew the birth of spring.
New from old,
Life from death,
The river runs deep,
The river runs cold,
Freighters and trawlers crawl
Slow in heavy flow
Through great locks
And tall dams
Down, along and through
The artery of the land,
On their way to the sea,
Carried on their way
By the great Mississippi.

This is where……
I've come
To search.
My heart lifts
Praises to the sky.
I seek to know
Where Eagles fly.
Magicians and acrobats
Of the sky,
White crowned
Kings on high,
They rise above bluffs,
Out over hills,
Above and beyond
All great locks and dams,
Far and wide
They climb
High above the land,
Until against the sun's very eye
They fly,
Sailors of the sky,
This is where Eagles fly.

This is where…..

I have come to find
Heart and soul
Of the land
In an Eagle's climb,
Heart and soul
Of the river
In an Eagle’s dive,
I have come to find
Why
My heart yearns
Voice's of winter
Screeching across the sky,
Why
My heart yearns
Wide winged shadows
Sailing across the land,
I have come,
To understand
Why,
The song of a frozen river
Lies beneath and within
The heart of
Where Eagles fly.

This is where…..
You must search deep,
Courage in your heart,
All you've ever been or done,
But a small bend
In a great river,
But an etching undone
In a screeching cry,
But a small lesson
In the land
Where Eagles fly.


This is where……

All of your life
Dives
Out of the sky,
Soars, climbs,
Then glides
Down, around,
Out and over,
Within a whisper
Of the river's heart,
Within a whisper
Of life and death,
Then in a flash
Of your eye,
Your heart rises,
Disappears into midday sun,
And all alone,
Out on an island
You find,
Everything you are
Pales when
Within a whisper
Of your eyes,
An eagle's dive
Spies your whole life
In a haunting cry.
And all your wonders
Why
Stare back at you,
Kneeling in frozen sand
You see
Yourself inside
Of the mirror
The Great River makes
In reflections of the land
Where Eagles Fly.

Cc: g.l.bass
02/17/01