King of Ages

The penultimate poem in the King of Ages series:

The famous archer extends his bow,
The shaft glints in the half light.
Through the thicket he can see his quarry.
All is quiet - even the reeds and bushes
Seem to silence, for the archer and his bow.

His quarry stones, a standing stone of fleshy
Beast, tense as thunder.
His bow shines again, from more sunlight
Passing through the trees,
And the quarry sees it, through the thicket,
A spark, as eye meets eye,
And the archers mind, for a second,
Admits failure.

Seconds seem to last an age,
As the beast looks still, but then seems to look beyond the archer,
And he knows he is undiscovered.
The arrow sings through its thunderous route, in no time.
And the beast bolts
Bleeding.