Harpy

Saw a real bird today
huge with wings silhouetting the sun.
As I looked on her I wished I had
that real bird's beak and shrewd, glittering eye.
With that beak I could unpick
the stitching that holds each cuckoo's nest together,
or tenderise the meat of every chicken's heart.
If I had half the wingspan of that real bird
I'd muscle through the vultures
and steal my share of flesh.
And if I had her beady eye
I'd mesmerise and hunt
each wide-eyed mouse or fish -
those wings that beak and eye I'd use
Until I had my prey.