Three times I’ve seen a Great Blue Heron
in the little stream of a neighborhood park.
What can she be finding in there?
No fish, that’s for sure.
It truly is at most a stream, a trickle.
Is she just wanting a drink?
Granted, that could be had.
But nothing more.
As my dog and I approach
she lifts her great heavy body
off those spindly legs
with amazing grace and ease.
Perhaps she prefers our humble stream
for just a drink
Quiet, secluded, less traveled by loose dogs and coyotes.
I am, of late, also preferring this civilized little park
to the wilder places we love that are also
loved by copperheads,
where a friend’s dog recently was bitten.
A yellow lab, he spent two nights in hospital.
My dog is too small and old to survive that
and I am too much in love with him to
weather that, knowing it was my poor judgment
that brought about his misery and possible end.
We will, instead, hang out with the lovely Great Blue Heron
right here in our neighborhood.
