Evening – 22nd December 2025

On this winter’s evening

I can hear an owl speaking

Or is she singing to me?

Is it as simple as it sounds

Or has she distilled her

Vocabulary down to a

Number of vowels that

Can translate all that she is thinking

Is it more complex than that

Is the meaning found in the gaps

Or in frequencies I’m no longer hearing

Or is it a prayer

That flows from somewhere deep within

Passed from parent to child

From the beginning of time

That I can join in with

Only by listening

On this winter’s evening

I can hear and owl speaking

Sometimes you just have to listen in order for inspiration to strike.

Halo Maud going for it – Nottingham 2024

© John Monaghan 2025. All Rights Reserved