Great Horned Owl

I heard the familiar hoot
of the Great Horned Owl
again this morning;  His loud
and persistent call
who, who, who
continued on  like 
the beat of a tom-tom
sounding an alarm 
at the break of dawn -
waking me from gentle sleep
and my  land of dreams


Note: Great Horned Owls make their home in north Idaho year round,and are chiefly nocturnal. I have seen this owl starring back at me a few times over the past years and am struck  by the gaze of  his yellow gold eyes -  strikingly beautiful  as he  penetrates the dusk, and  the focus of his vision.  According to Stan Tekiela's Birds of Idaho field guide, the Great Horned  Owl  isn't able to turn its head all the way around , and his 'ears' are actually tufts of feathers (horns) and have nothing to do with his hearing, which is excellent -  the Great Horned Owl is able to hear a mouse moving beneath a foot of snow.  Because his wing feathers are ragged on ends, the Great Horned Owl is like a thief in the night ,  stealth and silent when he takes flight.