A solitary pelican soars
Away from the family marine corps
Offshore, maybe on a mission
To avoid competition;
Reconnaissance is eased
By an under-girding breeze
Along a chosen navigational beam
Matching the course of a tidal stream.

It ignores a lurker
And soon, while no shirker,
Feels need for some rest,
Deciding it best
To take a short break
And touch down on land,
A spare tan span
Of a bar of sand.
To rework the flight plan.

Resuming patrol, head steady,
Rapacious bill at the ready;
The moment for which it strives
Dramatically arrives:
The minute dark slash
In a large blue sky attacks,
Wings closed for plummeting speed
Familiar in the peculiar breed.

The angular stone,
Like Lucifer, hones
In to deliver its form of hell
To a silver morsel;
The hard impact
Sprinkles a sunlit array
Of sparkling spray;
With the welcome swag
Tucked into the shopping bag,
The raider rises near the bay
Seeking altitude and another foray.