Birdwatching With Dad

8 May 2008

An osprey screeches.
Again.
Wait on rippling lake
Begins,
Companioned by a solitary
Wind.

Today
In the land of the heron’s wing.

Kachucka, kachucka. The shutter
Snaps.
Occasionally, wind-bent grasses
Crack.
On shore, the criss-crossed ripples
Lap.

Now
At the hour when the morning-dove sings.

The swallows dart all a-this way and
That
Like mice being chased by an aerial
Cat.
Tempered sun beats quietly on camouflage
Hat.

Here
Sitting in somber solitude.

Curtain’s up. Enter egret, speak a
Line.
Bow and exit left. You’re just in
Time
For the lark’s soliloquy
Sublime.

Heard
From the front row of nature’s stage.