The Pounce

[Eric Virkler]

Waiting, watching, stalking,
intently focused on the prize.
Waiting for the right moment,
nothing moving but the eyes.

One slow, soft step. . .
and then another one.
More than a whisper in the grass,
could spoil all the fun.

Rigid, poised, alert,
muscles tensed in preparation.
A slight tremor can be seen
barely contained anticipation.

And then in one,
exploding action.
It’s all over,
a second's fraction.

The photographer relaxes,
his muscles, his grip.
Eyes still alert,
Shutter again about to trip.
Waiting, watching, stalking.

Eric

Faces of Nature Photography
www.ericjvirkler.com

[Julie Kenward]

Bravo! Wonderful piece Eric!

One comment on the great poem - I'd take out the commas and let people's minds stop and pause where they will. You have it broken down by line so all the punctuation except periods is really unnecessary.

As for the photo, have you tried to pull up the background with a shadows/highlight adjustment? You might be able to get some more detail out of that darker area. The fox....he's perfection!

[denise ippolito]

Eric, I didn't realize it but I holding my breath as I was reading it- Very nicely written!!

[Lance Warley]

Terrific, Eric.

No one can tell how long it took you to write, but it reads as if the words just flowed out of you effortlessly, and so tightly woven.

Here's my 2 cents, to go with Jules' suggestions - I would kill the last line. Every line before the last line flows perfectly.

I also just realized it was actually fun to read. I didn't want it to end. Keep 'em coming, pleeze!

[Eric Virkler]

Thank you all for the kind words. Julie, I will try that with the punctuation next time (by the way, it's actually a coyote) Thanks for the advice Lance, I personally really like the closing line and the potential for starting the process all over again that comes with ending the poem as it began, but I can appreciate where you're coming from. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Great job writing this Eric. Thanks for sharing.