In that long ago somewhere very near this place he'd watched a falcon fall down the long blue wall of the mountain and break with the keel of its breastbone the midmost from a flight of cranes and take it to the river below all gangly and wrecked and trailing its loose and blowsy plumage in the still autumn air.
In Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," a poignant memory is conveyed through the imagery of nature's unforgiving reality. The scene illustrates a falcon's struggle as it descends a towering mountain, striking a crane mid-flight. This encounter underscores the harsh, predatory aspects of survival in the wild, highlighting the relentless cycle of life and death.
The description captures not just the brutality of the falcon's act but also the fragile beauty of the moment—the scattered feathers and the quiet autumn air reflect a sense of loss and the fleeting nature of existence. This imagery serves as a powerful reminder of the harsh realities faced by creatures in their pursuit of survival.