BIRDS
Thank you to Carol Highsmith for permission to use her photograph of the Archimedes statue at Union Station in Washington, D.C., as a reference for this print.
Thank you to Avian Haven of Liberty, Maine, for permission to use as a reference Terry Heitz's photograph of a recovering snowy owl testing out her wings in a flight cage at the facility. She was one of 8 snowy owls rescued by Avian Haven that year and the only one to survive. She was released in January 2022.
A 5-color reduction linocut
12" x 6" print size
14" x 8" paper size
Hand printed on BFK Rives paper
Edition: 18
Sold unframed
Price includes shipping within the U.S.
A copy of the poem will come with the print.
ARCHIMEDES & THE OWL
“A snowy owl apparently touring iconic
buildings of the nation’s capital is
captivating birdwatchers.”
AP News
January 10, 2022
Migrant from a treeless tundra where she saw
almost nothing human, a snowy owl settles
in downtown D.C. to feast on neighborhood rats.
In ancient Greece, she perched on Athena’s blind side
so the goddess could see the whole truth.
Today this specter ghosts our capital.
She gathers nightly crowds of admirers.
The Swiss ambassador to the United States,
dubs her The Superstar of Union Station!
Perch-to-perch she glides, a marvel of silence
on frost-white wings, haunts the National Mall,
the Postal Museum, Senate buildings, statuary.
She alights on the carved head of Archimedes,
ancient Greek mathematician, father of pi,
master of buoyancy and spheres.
She rests on the globe atop Columbus Fountain,
peers at cameras with lemon-yellow eyes.
Stars and Stripes flicker behind her.
This golden-eyed huntress, unblinking, aloof,
symbol of wisdom, guardian of truth,
sits on our blind side, swallows rats whole.
Leslie Moore
Ekphrastic Exhibit
Local Color Gallery
April, 2022