The canvas is divided into a green field—verdant and full of life—and a black field—death, defined by a dangerously close, looming shadow of a bird of prey. A rabbit is running for cover across the green. The contrast of green and black may as well be a symbol of a gambling table where life itself is at stake. In the contours of the shadow we can make out an outline of an arching bow, bent before the moment of release. 

The painting is full of movement: it is in the desperate dash of the rabbit and in the swooping of the predator over the grass stretching as if under a strong wind. The very angle-to-angle perspective underscores the swiftness of what is happening.

Closely examining the field in the painting we might have strong reservations about the reality of the threat from the air, especially considering how timid a creature a rabbit usually is. 

Think here of the pandemic of fear that has now overcome humanity in the face of the coronavirus threat. This threat is often exceeding the actual scale of the epidemic (see the artist’s work New African Mask).

Back to the painting: the grass is definitely bending on both sides of the divide! This can only be from downward currents of air coming from above and produced by a huge flying body. Look how it compares to the following image of a manned aircraft called the Stealth Bomber: