The Snowy Owl

The moon's a holy owl-queen.
She keeps them in a jar under her arm till evening,
Then sallies forth to war.

She pours the owls upon us.
They hoot with horrid noise and eat the naughty mousie girls
and wicked mousie-boys.

So climb the moonvine every night
And to the owl-queen pray: leave good green cheese by moonlit trees
for her to take away.

And never squeak, my children,
Nor gnaw the smoke-house door: the owl-queen will love us
and send her birds no more.

What Grandpa Mouse Said, Vachel Lindsay

Clouds are flying over the moon,
The dark night air is cold;
the wind sings a continual tune whose words are very old.
Forgetting that we forgot that song
(Like daisies in December)
We hear all night, all winter long what only owls remember.

They see inside the blackest skies
And darknesses of night;
Somewhere deep, deep behind their eyes there shines a sparkling light;
Everything that we've yet to know
(Like snowfalls in September)
Is being seen when the high winds blow and only the owls remember.

What All the Owls Know, John Hollander