An Owl In The Attic

It’s 3 AM. And my mother says there is an owl in the attic. We climb the stairs on high alert.

“Put that damn camera away and help me find it.”

I’m amused she refers to my phone as a camera. That’s what it is to me, too.

We find no owl.

All I see is my pony’s first halter. And spaces my father used to occupy. Officer in Charge from another era. History hung on hooks, bathed in this gorgeous light.

I crawl deeper into the shadows of the eaves and find fresh owl shit on the floor. And an open window.

Robert T. Boody

Officer in Charge, Manana Island | 1977-1983

May 4, 1937-September 21, 1992

Monhegan Island, Maine