Birds of Prey

We call the hawk a bird of prey,
but it's the sparrows I see
flanking him in flocks of four
or three. One above, one below,
two more underneath,
swooping and pecking and
clawing mid-flight at a bird five times
their size, over a barren field
along the highway. Windows down
I hear the helpless hunter cry
out, with nowhere to flee
from his spirited foes in the
endless empty heavens.