Heron



He blends almost fully
into the pull of tide, a long
stretch of neck arched above folded wings.
He seems to glide backward
in meditation

with all the patience and ease
of Jesus fishing for breakfast at dawn.
His gaze piercing the surface, he is lost
in the ripple of migrating waters
only to appear again, stark

as a bone of driftwood against a dark eddy.
In this moment he strikes with such grace
that I desire to imagine his prey
doesn't suffer; that it comes to him, willing
to die so beautifully.
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Submitted on May 01, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
7

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXXX XXXXX AXXXA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 486
Words 93
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

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