Not in the present tense and not experienced by me, but still relevant to the prompt, it is about an event that happened with Bob, my ex-boyfriend, and Chauncey, our Boston Terrier, on our sailboat a few years ago. Bob had buoyed offshore in the inland lake we live near. He noticed a bald eagle in the sky hunting. As he watched the eagle, it began a descent in hunt mode – headed right towards the boat, apparently targeting Chauncey! Bob lurched forward and nabbed Chauncey just as the eagle hit the water near the boat, then rose with a fish in her talons.
Hungry eaglets eat
as a small dog sleeps on deck —
sun-glittered water.
from Steve Miller’s excellent album, “Born 2B Blue”
image: “Eaglets at Sunrise #343,” by Rhonda Hager.
Frank J. Tassone is today’s host of dVerse’ Haibun Monday. Frank says:
Let’s write our haibun that references the Eagle, in whatever context I’ve mentioned, or that you conceive. For those new to haibun, the form consists of one to a few paragraphs of prose—usually written in the present tense—that evoke an experience and are often non-fictional/autobiographical. They may be preceded or followed by one or more haiku—nature-based, using a seasonal image—that complement without directly repeating what the prose stated.
Tao Talk 
Exquisite! A few seconds of heart-pounding excitement, captured in so few words! Brava, Lisa!
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🙂 Thank you!
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Oh… and he probably had the eyes on the fish all along… but I can understand the scare.
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Thanks, Bjorn!
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This sounds like a near miss: if a golden eagle can take a lamb, I’m sure a bald eagle could take a small dog!
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You’re right. Hard to know who the eagle was aiming as seeing the moving human could have had an effect on target. Glad all ended well!
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Scary! though the dog remained oblivious to all of it in his sleep.
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Yes, both before and after 🙂
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WoW! Great story!
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Thank you, Myrna.
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Bravo for BF grabbing Chauncey abd keeping him from becoming an eagle’s meal
Happy Monday
Much💖love
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Yes, it could have turned out differently if he hadn’t seen the eagle! Thank you, Gillena.
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I’m sure fish tastes better than terrier, and certainly puts up less resistance! Great sighting though!
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I agree!
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How wonderful to have had such an up-close and personal encounter. Very cool, Lisa; Thanks.
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Indeed, Ron, thank you 🙂
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Truth does rival fiction much of the time. Small dogs are coyote bait around here. You really did pack a lot into one poetic paragraph.
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So true, Glenn! Thank you!
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Love the tension in the telling here….and the relief when the eagle’s talons came up with the fish. It reminds me of a very sad encounter I had with some kind of bird of prey…..driving home with our kids in the car when they were still in car seats, right before we got to our house a large bird flew down into the neighbor’s yard with its talons outstretched and picked up a tiny baby bunny and started to fly off. I slammed on the brakes, laid on the horn and got out of the car yelling at the bird. Silly me. The bird did drop the bunny but what was I thinking? The bunny was dead and that made it even more traumatic for our kids! So I’m very glad in your tale, the eagle only got the fish!
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It’s a bird eat bunny (or fish) world we live in, you’re right. It isn’t easy to witness though. Thank you, Lillian.
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Great story Lisa. That would be rather unnerving. Glad Chauncy made it to see another day!
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Thanks Dwight. Me too! Maybe the eagle was aiming for the fish all along, but maybe not. The end result is Chauncey made it to see another day 🙂
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:>)
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The artwork and the haiku. A story but also a message. I really enjoyed your haibun. Glad to have found your blog. (It’s lovely).
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Thank you, K, and glad you did also 🙂
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Jeez, this sounds like a pretty frightening event!
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I wasn’t there, but Bob sure was animated as he described it. All’s well that ends well 🙂
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That’s true, luckily, nothing bad happened. Still, I can only imagine what kind of adrenaline rush you must get witnessing this bird shooting out of the sky and in the direction of your dog…
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Great account of the eagle on a hunt. I once saw one catch a fish out of the water, it swooped with lightning speed to catch his meal. They have been known to take small dogs and cats. So, glad it was a fish.
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I would love to see an eagle fishing sometime. I bet it was amazing, Truedessa
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Whoa, I’d be scared like hell too! This was so gripping, loved it.
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It’s an amazing story, but only because Chauncey survived. Otherwise it would be a tragedy to be forgotten. Thanks for reading, Jay 🙂
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Of course. You’re welcome, Lisa🙂
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An exciting story, Lisa, I am glad it turned out well. That had to be a scary ordeal.
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Thank you, Eugi!
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Most welcome, Lisa!
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That was a scary moment. Thank goodness Chauncey wasn’t the prey 😯
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Wow. What an amazing story — with a relatively happy ending — I’m sure the fish didn’t think so…
And great telling of it. Love that image!
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Thank you and glad you enjoyed the tale!
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Great write Lisa. I used to watch Eagles and especially Osprey fish often during the summer, as I was doing the same for many years in the mountain lakes of Oregon. Breathtaking creatures!
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Rob, I like the idea of you fishing with Eagles and Osprey. Can’t imagine how bonding that must have felt.
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His/hers intentions were misunderstood! Nice story. A wonderful picture
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Yes, Sadje! Thank you.
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You’re welcome 😉
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Eagles know no fear. I’ve seen them on film get Rams off of mountains the hard way…Some of the best hunters ever.
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That would seem to have a great payoff for them, never thought of that way of hunting but it works!
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Nicely composed.
The eagle probably wants to stick to food it recognizes.
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Thank you. I think you’re right, it was Bob who thought the worst.
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You created heart stopping tension there!
Great haiku, Li. ❤️
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Thanks, Punam 🙂
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You are very welcome. 🙂
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You really captured the tension in a single paragraph, Lisa! I’m glad Chauncey was unscathed, and the Eagle was satisfied by the fish.
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Thanks, Kim!
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Wow – that’s scary! Thanks for sharing 🙂
-David
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You’re welcome!
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How very brave of Bob … glad they both lived to tell the scary story … and retold it with artful relish 🙂
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🙂 Yes, he wasn’t going to let Chaun be carried off.
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sweet!
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That was a good save! (K)
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A close call, you had me worried for a moment. I love your verse and the artwork too!
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Thanks, Chris!
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They are fast to change course immediately. They cultivate a Plan B syndrome really that fast.!
Hank
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So glad the eagle went to Plan B!
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How nearly tragic, yet so thrilling!
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Haha, fun to read
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🙂 Thanks, Jude!
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My pleasure
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