Make-Falcon

Linda Gregerson

1

Of the oil glands . . . Of the down . . . 

     Of the numbers and arrangements

of feathers in the wing . . . I have seen

          on the plains of Apulia

how the birds in earliest spring were weak

     and scarcely able to fly.

Of the avian nostrils and mandibles . . . Of

          the regular sequence of molt . . . 

Aristotle, apt to credit hearsay where

     experiment alone

can be relied upon, was wrong about

          the migrant column. Concerning

the methods of capture . . . the jesses . . . 

     The swivel, the hood, the falcon's bell . . . 

2

The finest of them—here I mean

          for swiftness, strength,

audacity, and stamina—are brooded

     on the Hyperborean cliffs (an island

chiefly made of ice). And I

          am told but have not ascertained

the farther from the sea they nest,

     the nobler will be the offspring.

3

Triangular needles are not to be used.

          The room

to be darkened the bird

     held close in the hands of the assistant,

linen thread. By no means pierce

          the membrane nictitans, lying between

the eyeball and the outermost

     tissue, nor place the suture, lest it tear,

too near the edge. To seel,

          from cilium, lower lid,

which makes her more compliant to the falconer's

     will but also (I have

seen this in the lesser birds a swell) more bold

          in flight. The senses

to be trained in isolation: taste,

     then touch, then hearing (so

the bars of a song she will evermore link to

          food), and then the sight restored,

in order that the falcon may

     be partly weaned or disengaged from that

which comes by nature.

          The falconer's purse or

carneria, owing 

     to the meat to holds . . . 

The carrier's arm . . . the gauntlet . . . the horse . . . 

          The greatly dislike the human face.

4

If you ask why the train is made of a hare,

     you must know no other flight

more resembles

          the flight at a crane than that

the falcon learns in pursuit of a hare

     nor is more beautiful.

Make-falcon: meaning

          the one who is willing

to fly in a cast with another less

     expert (the seasons

best suited . . . the weather . . . the hours . . . )

          and by example teach.

5

The removal of dogs, which praise

     will better effect than the harshest

threats, from the prey. Their reward.

          You must open

the breast and extract the organ that moves

     by itself, which is to say, the heart,

and let the falcon feed.

          The sultan

has sent me a fine machine combining

     the motions of the sun and moon,

and Giacomo makes a poem of fourteen

          lines. The music is very good,

I think. (Of those who refuse to come to the lure . . . Of 

     shirkers . . . Of bating . . . )

But give me the falcon for art.

                                    *