I drift over a green-gold veil of grass
To watch her stand, rising like a ghost through
The still water on long scrawny legs,
Her pale curved neck arching, golden eyes snapping
Onto the slick feast swimming beneath our view.
She walks slowly, lifting one twig-like leg
Over the other, knobby knees jutting
Back-- the soundless gait of an ancient huntress.
She pauses before dipping her
Sharp golden beak in for the treat
Of a small wriggling fish,
Piercing it with her beak's blade-like tip.
It goes still, so she swallows it
In one gulp, its outline bulging down the narrow arc
Of her throat, one tender heartbeat of nourishment.
She spreads ink-tipped blue wings to lift up and
Soar across the rippling gray sky, legs extended,
Wings unfurled as she glides
Over mystical green-black treetops
Like a lost ancestor into prehistoric times.
YOU ARE READING
Animal Emotion
PoetryThese are my poems about animals, with some about the human animal. Some of these have been published in local journals. Previously published poems: "Close-Up With a Giraffe" "The Blue Heron" "The Baby Bunny" "Tired Hearts" ...
