The Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)
by Theodora Goss

The Eastern screech-owl
has a varied diet. In the wild,
it may consume insects such as cicadas
and crickets, small mammals
(mostly voles and field mice), song birds,
including sparrows and chickadees, sometimes
reptiles and amphibians, frogs especially,
but also lizards, and even crayfish. It hunts
at dusk and dawn, or at night,
while we are sleeping, curtains drawn
against the darkness.

But the Eastern screech-owl is one
with the darkness. Like other owls,
it has exceptional hearing and night vision,
which makes it an excellent hunter. It uses
several strategies: it may perch on a branch
and swoop down to catch its prey,
or chase it in the air for a short distance.
That is how it catches our dreams
as they flutter along on translucent wings,
so delicate, trusting the darkness
to hide them, not knowing
that the Eastern screech-owl, which,
as I have mentioned, is one
with the darkness,
is listening, watching, waiting
to pounce.

(The image is an illustration of Eastern screech-owls by John James Audubon.)