I, round the brae of Howth in chalky light, Lamented my lot more spent in sport than play. There, land appeared disinterested and sight Was a teary well. Cold was the shivering day, And my frame, a ghost of shadow, was erased, It receded like the fog. Just then, overhead I saw brave birds engaged, a raptor traced A mourning dove’s faltering flight, how it fed Its own shining sense of purpose, for not Wanton sport or lordly state do falcons So hunt, nor did the bird in peril belabour His reason, rather he tried avoiding those talons. A question answered itself within my breadth, Survival resides in a pageantry of death.