I saw a falcon chase a bus

The other day I saw
a falcon chase a bus
I had heard of peregrines nesting
in the city
downtown
on the roofs
of skyscrapers
so I don't think the bus was near a nest
but I can't account
for the run
unless she was counting
on bigger prey

this afternoon I saw
a flock
of crows flying west
they were flying high
I know
because they were impossibly small
like afterthoughts
in a well painted sky
they seemed
to be heading
to Carleton
perhaps there was a football game
or maybe the weather was better there

and when I came home this evening
the last
of the sparrows startled
from a milkweed pod
brown
and ready to make a nice paper
once it was hulled and ginned
into a batch
of pulp

in the end
the falcon beat the bus
maybe the bus driver wasn't trying
but I'd like
to think it was
the indomitable spirit
of an apex predator
taking her place

but this is Autumn
and fairy tales don't come true
except in Spring
and in Summer games
of daring
and chance
when the sun bears witness
to cheat
and sin
and win
or lose.