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On Flaco's Death

As many of you know, I was blessed to be visited by Flaco the owl one afternoon last November. He died this Friday (February the 23rd) and I’m brokenhearted. What I saw of him during his time with me was a gentle, curious bird. Because Flaco had such majesty and nobility as he flew through Manhattan and settled high on perches, it seems almost denigrating to call him “adorable” but that was how he seemed when I was with him. Flaco brought inspiration and joy around the world and he was able to spend his last year of life flying free, after having been in captivity for 13 years. Rest in peace, Flaco, you glorious bird.

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Nan Knighton

February 24, 2024

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FLACO: A CELEBRATION

This is the poem Nan read at Flaco's memorial:

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THE ROOFTOPS ARE EMPTY. THE RAILINGS ARE BARE.

AND NO GRACEFUL OWL IS SEEN CRUISING THE AIR.

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THERE’S NO GENTLE HOOTING TO SOFTEN THE NIGHT,

NO GOLD-BRINDLED FEATHERS TO CATCH MORNING LIGHT.

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BUT FLACO WAS WITH US- A SUDDEN SURPRISE!

FRESH OUT OF HIS CAGE, HE BRAVED COLD WINTER SKIES,

FROM THE TREES, HE LOOKED DOWN ON THIS DAUNTING NEW WORLD.

BUT HE TOOK IT ALL ON WITH HIS WIDE WINGS UNFURLED.

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HE SPIRALED THE CITY. HE’D DART AND HE’D SPRING.

HE COULD HUNT LIKE A PRO AND ROOST HIGH AS A KING.

HE’D PERK WINDSWEPT EARS, CHECK OUT EACH SOUND HE HEARD-

HE WAS CURIOUS, FEISTY, THIS BEAUTIFUL BIRD.

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HE’D PUFF OUT HIS CHEST, SELF-POSSESSED AND QUITE PROUD.

DID HE KNOW THAT HE PLAYED TO A WAY-OBSESSED CROWD?

HE HAD SUCH A SWEET-FACE AND GOD KNOWS HE WAS SMART

AND THOSE DEEP YELLOW EYES SHOWED AN INNOCENT HEART.

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SO LET’S CELEBRATE FLACO, THE BIRD WHO FLEW FREE

AND STILL SEE HIM PERCHED ON AN OLD OAKEN TREE.

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Nan Knighton

March 3, 2024

Nan Knighton's Flaco Encounter

Nan was lucky enough to have a visit from Flaco, the famous Central Park Zoo escapee who was being tracked by thousands of New Yorkers. He landed on her kitchen window ledge and stayed for hours. She was thrilled. Here are some of her photos of Flaco, and a video can be found on Twitter/X where it’s gone viral. She and her husband John Breglio were also interviewed on WABC Channel 7 and Inside Edition about their visit from Flaco. Nan has also been posting that interview and other updates on her Facebook page. Nan totally fell in love with Flaco.

Additional Coverage

ABC News

"For three hours, Knighton said she spoke to the owl who stared back at her with his saucer-like eyes. At one point she got a little too close to the window, prompting her velvety-feathered visitor to let out a little hiss.

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"Up close, he's this beautiful brindled fur and feathers. It's all colors. It's ochre and gold and different shades of brown and white," Knighton said. "I was kind of monotonous in telling him, 'You're gorgeous.'"

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Asked where Flaco fell in with the A-listers she's met in the entertainment industry, Knighton didn't hesitate, saying, "Of all the luminaries I've ever met, he was the most luminous."

The New York Times

"Ms. Knighton was enthralled; she had not heard about Flaco. Worried that he might be in distress, she called around unsuccessfully to see whether someone might come to take him.

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"I think he’s at a point now where the city is his domain,” she said. “And he feels confident, and he’s curious, and he’s enjoying himself.”

Book Release:
Opening the Shutters 

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Nan Knighton's new collection of poetry, Opening the Shutters, was released in hardcover on June 30, and is also available in ebook edition.

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OPENING THE SHUTTERS is a book of poems by Nan Knighton which has been called "extraordinary" by author Delia Ephron, "glorious" by playwright Ken Ludwig and "stunning" by Richard Ridge of Broadway World. Charles McGrath, former Editor of The New York Times Book Review says, "Reading Nan Knighton is like reading a 21st century Edna Millay" and Elizabeth Goodenough of Secret Spaces of Childhood says, "Her poems fly. They take risks...with arresting images, kick-ass verbs, hilarious dialogue and dramatic power. Brilliant."

 

Knighton's poems are conversational. Alfred Uhry, Pulitzer Prize winner for Driving Miss Daisy says, "Nan Knighton's poems celebrate the ebb and flow of everyday life." Her poems live in that arena - conversational, easily grasped. As she says, they are for those who say, "I'm not really a poetry person" as much as they are for poetry lovers. Her poems travel from Skee Ball on the boardwalk to a tango by the river, from drunken prayers in a taxi to writing songs in the nude, from parents who drive you nuts- ("I'll be dying, they'll be drinking Mint Juleps")- to a man on his knees begging his lover to stop making him laugh. Whether in rhyme, free verse, haiku, prose poem or dialogue, Knighton's poems are sure to hit a nerve.

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The one-night only performance was presented on February 18, 2019 at Lincoln Center
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