By Philip A. Zentz
Snowy Owl takes to flight
On lumbering feathered wings
Broad in body, white on white
With only a hoot he sings
Vanishing into the snowy night
Not a silent majestic soar
Against gravity he fights
Takeoff, a solemn rumbling roar
Speckled against the world
Eyes sharpened on the prize
Another stormy snowflake
In a wintry snowy sky …
As a young man, Philip A. Zentz worked summers on Martha’s Vineyard, commercial fishing out of Menemsha and building stone walls. A retired carpenter, cabinetmaker and schoolteacher, he now lives in East Bridgewater, but often visits relatives here.