Mono Monday : : Above

We have two resident grey squirrels who scamper about the oak trees like squirrel highways. Looking into the thick screen of wide branches and newly sprung leaves it is difficult to see, but all manner of wildlife is harbored  up there. .Last year's ravens have returned probably to  the same tree if not the same nest. They amuse me no end with their efforts to leap off the ground, and hover, flapping their great wings madly as they attempt to grab some suet from the feeder in the plum tree. There is some bird that flies kamikaze like at the ravens successfully chasing them away although it doesn't pause at the feeder long enough for me to identify it. The quail are ground feeders and can be heard mumbling to each other. They, burst from the foliage in a great flapping of wings when warned by the sentry who stands on a high place and keeps watch.

I spent some time outside lying on a chaise looking above me to see what flew over, and the answer was nothing, or at least nothing I could focus on before it disappeared from sight. Vultures wheel overhead most of the time and are surprisingly graceful  but a little too far away for a decent shot.

I finally settled on a string of outdoor lights hanging above me from the arbor. It's a good thing they are solar powered for they light up every night, despite the fact that they are full of water....

A whole world teems 
above my head.
Squirrels chase each other in the trees
teasing the dogs on the ground.
Vultures circle above the open fields
looking for something dead.
The ravens come close to the feeder
jumping, hovering, snatching.
The tops of the mountains
disappear in a cloud.
The lowering sky,
looks like lead.
I lie on my back looking up
trying not to think 
of a world gone mad...
The eternal circle of life is heartening
in its inevitability.