Resilience Speaks

Juvenile Cooper’s hawk perched on my fence (photo: Craig Sabin)

Resilience speaks without a sound,
With words uplifting and profound.
All nature has her on display,
I saw her just the other day.

A cooper’s hawk without a leg,
Still hunts for food and doesn’t beg,
And soars upon the stormy sky,
And never stops to wonder why.

Were me I’d mope upon my bed,
Rely on others to be fed,
Bemoan that life is now so hard,
And question why it dealt this card.

O Lord, I need Your faith to see
Your gentle hand of love for me
Beneath the trials of my life,
Within the things that cause me strife.

And trust to know that You know best,
And in that trust to find Your rest.
And by Your faith still dare to try,
And soar upon the stormy sky.

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“All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.”

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 15, verse 15.

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This young, one-legged cooper’s hawk was an unwelcome visitor to our yard last Fall. His visit was short, terminated by a large, territorial crow who screamed at him incessantly and repeatedly engaged him in aerial combat (which was something to witness), until he decided the tasty menu of small birds and squirrels in our yard wasn’t worth the constant harassment.

I’d hate to think that whatever misfortune deprived this young hawk of his right leg could have been the result of deliberately misleading advice from my old friend Foghorn Leghorn.

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