The hawk

I was leaving the exercise room this morning, but the gate that leads back to my apartment was broken, so I had to turn around and go the other way. That's when I saw a hawk, not more than 10 feet away. I've seen her before in that general area -- once sitting on the playground equipment.
But never as close as she was today. She was following two cawing blue jays, probably chasing them away from her nest. (That's what makes me call her "she".) Then she stopped atop the wrought-iron gate, turning her head to look over her shoulder. She was spotted, white on brown.
It was something to see such a beautiful creature in such a mundane moment!
Florida is like that sometimes. The coastal areas are filled with wildlife trying to survive amidst suburban development.
Of course it made me think of the beautiful poem in Spoon River Anthology, "The Unknown." Here's an excerpt:

Daily I search the realms of Hades
For the soul of the hawk,
That I may offer him the friendship
Of one whom life wounded and caged.