The Peregrines Of Parliament

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/01/eaperegrine101.xml

A pair of peregrine falcons have taken up residence at one of the best addresses in London.

The birds have been spotted perched on the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

This is a poem I wrote this morning to celebrate the fact that at last something decent lives and works in Parliament.




The Peregrines of Parliament.


Upon a ledge I sit, a wanderer returning,
To my kingdom where I alone once reigned,
When forest and hills cloaked these shores,
I was master, and all nature my prey.

My heart is harder than flint or steel,
For breaking bones and stripping flesh,
are my delights, I winnow the pigeons,
That coo and preen in pompous flocks.

I am the tercel, the true prince of Parliament,
Upon my columns I sit in silent contempt,
Finally true majesty adorns this vain palace,
So raise your low eyes and salute my shadow.

I am the killer that stalks your streets,
Cosmopolitan in my tastes, I hunt fresh meat,
Lawless in my liberty, I swift the wind,
Warbling aloft, I kill at will then kill again.

Beyond the pale, I live and die,
Between death and dreams I score the sky,
Towering over the city in my pride of place,
I wear my executioners hood with amour-propre.


Stalking the sky upon gleaning wings,
I stoop to conquer with lightning strikes,
Swift as a sabre slash I grip and kill,
Bind the bone with my savage talons.


I feak and preen, cast my contempt down,
Rouse my feathers and tire at flesh,
I slip as a slave from no mans hand,
Whilst in your mews you die each day.