The Bald Eagle
One must have a mind of America
To regard the sharp beak and black
Eye of the solitary bird of prey;
And have listened a long time to
Behold the silence of the Liberty Bell,
The dusty flag rough in the distant
Glitter of America’s spacious skies;
And not to think of any misery
In the people’s sounds, in the cold
Clamoring cries of alienated men
And women, which is the sound
Of the land—full of the same cries
In the wind that are blowing
Across the same bare place
For the listener, who listens
For the bald eagle, and, nothing
Himself, beholds nothing that is
Not there and the nothing that is.
Author Bio:
Gil Hoy is a Boston trial lawyer and is currently studying poetry at Boston University, through its Evergreen program, where he previously received a BA in Philosophy and Political Science. Hoy received an MA in Government from Georgetown University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as a Brookline, Massachusetts Selectman for four terms. Hoy started writing poetry two years ago. Since then, his work has appeared in Third Wednesday, The Write Room, The Eclectic Muse, Clark Street Review, The New Verse News, Harbinger Asylum, Soul Fountain, The Story Teller Magazine, Eye on Life Magazine, Stepping Stones Magazine, The Penmen Review, To Hold A Moment Still (Harbinger Asylum’s 2014 Holidays Anthology), The Zodiac Review, Earl of Plaid Literary Journal, The Potomac, Antarctica Journal, The Montucky Review and elsewhere.