Excerpt from Choosing Season, The Eagle and the Starling

An Eagle flew through the forest

With a scar and quills of gold.

He heard a Starling singing,

And found her in a pine below.

She called to him as he listened

From a ring of frozen blooms.

‘Come with me, my champion.

Oh, you shall be my groom.’

‘Girl my heart you’ve raptured

But I shall bring you strife.’

She did not heed his warning,

And pledged to be his wife.

A Starling flew through the forest,

With her nestlings in her wings

She told them tales of honor,

And prayers of great yearning.

The Eagle called to his darling love,

From an oak of frozen dreams

‘Oh my noble Starling,

The river beckons me.’

The Starling hid her nestlings,

And gave to him a sword

‘Take heart my champion,

Go forth and save our lord.’

A Raven flew through the forest

Calling for the Eagle’s nest.

His wings were bathed in crimson,

His eyes a fiery crest.

The Eagle wept when he saw him

And begged his love to flee.

The Raven called to his victims,

‘Your lives belong to me.’

He scorned the Eagle’s pleading,

As the Starling fell from above

His hatred was not sated,

Till the Eagle joined his love.