The Roc
Words and music by Leslie Fish © 1985

Long must I fly (and fly, and fly)
Long leagues of sky (of sky, of sky)
To seek my food and feast my fill
Hard must I hunt and often kill.
Small is the game, and all too hungry the Roc. (the Roc.)

Ages ago (ago, ago)
It was not so. (not so, not so)
Mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth.
Covered Earth like a moving cloth.
A single kill could easily feed the Roc. (the Roc.)

They have all gone (all gone, all gone),
Left me alone, (alone, alone).
Left me endlessly seeking food.
Few my numbers now. Small my brood.
The world has grown too petty to feed the Roc. (the Roc.)

But now comes Man (comes Man, comes Man),
Who breeds as he can (he can, he can),
Vast in number and easy to kill.
From his hordes I can eat my fill.
I will not starve while Man can feed the Roc! (the Roc!)



From https://lesliefish.bandcamp.com/track/the-roc
Play audio
Tagged: human prey, nonhuman pov

This was written for an old Off-Centaur themed album about mythical creatures. Dragons, unicorns, elves and giants being already taken, I settled for the famous mythical giant bird. It didn’t hurt that I’d just seen a TV documentary about sightings of giant hawk-like birds in North America.