This week’s poem, “Ten Thousand Eagles,” comes to us from poet Donna M. Loring, U.S. Army veteran and Penobscot elder. Loring wrote this poem in 2001, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and she thought of it recently as the war continues in Ukraine – and, specifically, after Volodymyr Zelensky invoked our national memory of that day in his address to the U.S. Congress. Loring’s poem evokes both the horror of war and the hope that we can rise above it.

Loring served as a member of the Women’s Army Corps, stationed in Vietnam 1967-1968, and she is an elder and former council member of the Penobscot Indian Nation. She held the position of the nation’s representative to the Maine State Legislature for 12 years and is a former senior advisor on tribal affairs to Gov. Janet Mills. She hosts her own radio show, “Wabanaki Windows,” at WERU Community Radio in Orland. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from the University of Maine.

 

Ten Thousand Eagles

By Donna M. Loring

Ten thousand eagles flew that day across the bright blue sky to meet the spirits on their way from fiery smoke-filled tombs.

They soared above the dark, black clouds billowing from the earth and hovered for a moment there and saw the face of doom.

Ten thousand eagles gathered and swooped down beneath the clouds.

They found the spirits one by one and plucked them from their plight.

They carried each new spirit through the black and hate-filled clouds.

They gave them each a shelter wrapped in warm wings oh so tight.

They gave them strength and comfort too on their unexpected flight.

On swift wings they flew towards their final destination, where each spirit knew without any hesitation there would be peace and love and harmony, they would forever be wrapped within the eagles’ wings through all eternity.

Ten thousand eagles flew that day as all the world stood still and watched in shock and horror as the tragedy unfurled.

Now we are left here on this earth to face the billowing clouds and our eyes search for the eagles as we say our prayers out loud.

May our spirits soar on eagle’s wings above the dark black clouds of hatred, murder and revenge that keep us hatred bound.

Ten thousand eagles flew that day as all the world stood still.

The eagles flew above those clouds. Perhaps someday…we will.

Megan Grumbling is a poet and writer who lives in Portland. Deep Water: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “Ten Thousand Eagles,” copyright © 2001 by Donna M. Loring, appears by permission of the author.