Only through dialogue with nature and the animal kingdom can we hope to fathom the human condition. Such conversation enables us to establish a fresh benchmark by which to gauge the significance of what it takes to be human in a truer sense of the word. This collection of poems represents the findings of a man who is still very much a work in progress! beyond observer's books and climbing boys there nests a bird that only takes to wing to prey on feeble-minded men designed for toil and useful days but who stand too long and gaze gathering sunlight at its tail it swoops unseen and strikes with song caresses ear and mind while talons grip the heart and choke all talk this bird part nightingale part hawk