Great Blue Heron
June 29, 2011 |
| Photo courtesy Kathy Ricca |
Great Blue Heron
I drive past him each day in the swamp where he stands
on one leg, hunched as if dreaming of his own form
the surface reflects. Often I nearly forget to turn left,
buy fish and wine, be home in time to cook and chill.
Today the bird stays with me, as if I am moving through
the heron’s dream to share his sky or water—places
he will rise into on slow flapping wings or where
his long bill darts to catch unwary frogs. I’ve seen
his slate blue feathers lift him as dangling legs
fold back, I’ve seen him fly through the dying sun
and out again, entering night, entering my own sleep.
I only know this bird by a name we’ve wrapped him in,
and when I stand on my porch, fish in the broiler,
wine glass sweating against my palm, glint of sailboats
tacking home on dusky water, I try to imagine him
slowly descending to his nest, wise as he was
or ever will be, filling each moment with that moment’s
act or silence, and the evening folds itself around me.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by T. Alan Broughton from his most recent book of poetry, A World Remembered, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2010. Reprinted by permission of T. Alan Broughton and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
8 comments
Fabulous poem and photo Kathy. We have sort of a love/hate relationship with great blue herons - they are magnificent birds, but they eat the fish my DH stocks in our ponds.
ReplyDeleteLovely poem and yes, they definitely carry you away with them if you stand and watch them for any length of time!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. The author describes a connection I have felt that is so hard to describe. What is it about some creatures that linger with us through our days and nights? it is as if they become interwoven among the threads of our personal lives, in intimate ways that defy logic.
ReplyDeleteCheryl--I feel for your dilemma! The birds are so lovely, yet you really weren't opening a snack bar when you stock your pond!
ReplyDeleteLaure--They seem so exotic to me still, even though I see them quite frequently.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth--Some birds and some animals just have a special allure. So nice that the author of this poem could put that into words.
ReplyDeleteI am honored that you chose one of my photographs of blue herons to go with the poem. The blue herons and white egrets are so graceful and regal. I so enjoy taking photographs of them in the swamps of Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteKathy--Thank YOU for making your photos available. This is so lovely and was perfect to illustrate the poem.
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