Staring into the eyes of doom...









I spent a few minutes today staring down, or rather attempting to stare down, a beautiful barn owl who had the blackest, most disturbing eyes. (The only more disquieting eyes I've seen are those of the gorilla. Simply too human to be caged.) As I became engrossed in his steady, unflinching gaze, I couldn't help but think. Think about death...the grand finale that flashes "game over" on everyone's entire life sooner or later, and the lostness of soul and hope that sometimes finds us even while we're still breathing. Imagining how I would tremble if he were 6 feet tall instead of 16 inches. Wondering if I could have ever gotten close enough to see those frightening eyes had there been no cage to contain him. Thinking of how I'd occasionally like to have eyes like that...cavernous eyes that could penetrate those who hurt me with the perfect ratio of condescension and utter nothingness. It was a small thing. Just a moment, to be sure, in the middle of a beautiful spring day.

But the eyes.
Oh, those unsettling eyes spoke to me from another world.
A place where the sun can't reach and my lips are bitten instead of smiling. Eyes that will follow me into my dreams...