Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (March 15, 2010 – February 23, 2024)

Born in captivity, Flaco conversed
With visitors through bars, his mighty wings
Becalmed in Central Park’s Zoo, a locked ward’s
Parameter of hunger for freedom.
Small mammals fed to Flaco filled him up,
Since blood demands more blood, while reminding
The thirteen-year-old predator of his
Entrapment, power’s raw futility.
Little disturbed the blue work of dreaming
Till rascals clipped meshed wires – and he flew free,
Uniting citizens who chronicled
His accidental liberation day.
Long cloistered, this Eurasian eagle-owl
Exerted untried muscles, mastering
Pale fire, exploring, cautiously at first,
The Upper West Side’s ecstasy of sky,
Becoming Manhattan’s reigning rat czar,
His art the genius of inspiring awe
While commandeering new celebrity.
Don’t make me tell you how he crashed and slipped,
A lesson in humility unfit
For such a rara avis resplendent.
Did Flaco love us back? We thought he did.