The Billy Goat Sentinel Poem by Della Hodgson James

A large wild Billy with crinkled horns
  Stood sentinel on a rock,
Below him on the mountain side
  Grazed his guarded flock.
Above them soared an eagle
  The sentinel shook his head,
If looks could tell a story
  He wished, that bird dead.

His hoofs beat his platform
  His nostrils flaring wide,
Below him stood a mother goat
  With her baby at her side.

The eagle paused in mid-air
  It's wings were breathless still,
It seemed intensely gazing
  At the flock upon the hill.

Then suddenly it swooped downward
  Like a plummet through the air,
The great wild Billy, upon the rock
  No longer stopped to stare.

With a snort, a leap, he cleared the rock
  Then down the hill he shot,
Straight toward the mother goat
  With her unsuspecting tot.

There was no time for fleeing
  No time to get them hid,
But the wild mountain Billy
  Stood over the helpless kid.

The eagle swooped above them

  Then angry, in flight he arose,
The Billy goat had saved the kid
  From the old eagles sharp toes.

But it's challenging screams of anger
  As it soared to reach more height,
Had stirred the flock to action
  And warned them of their plight.

The goats had bunched together,
  Then around the hill they fled.
Not stopping once to look behind
  Till they reached a protecting ledge.

But the wise old Billy, sentinel
  Walked slowly in their wake,
Still watching the crafty eagle
  Nor, from it his eyes did take.

Until they reached safety,
  The flock that is his charge.
The wise old Billy sentinel,
  Is always on his guard.