By Linda Hogan
I am always watching
the single heron at its place
alone at water, its open eye,
one leg lifted
or wading without seeming to move.
It is a mystery seen
but never touched
until this morning
when I lift it from its side
where it lays breathing.
I know the beak that could attack,
that unwavering golden eye
seeing me, my own saying I am harmless,
but if I had that eye, nothing would be safe.
The claws hold tight my hand,
its dun-brown feathers, and the gray
so perfectly laid down.
The bird is more beautiful
than my hand, skin more graceful
than my foot, my own dark eye
so much more vulnerable,
the heart beating quickly,
its own language speaking,
You could kill me or help me.
I know you and I have no choice
but to give myself up
and in whatever supremacy of this moment,
hold your human hand
with my bent claws.
--------
We had lovely weather on Sunday, much cooler than Saturday, breezy and mostly overcast. We woke to find that our sourdough starter was working, then had a quiet morning during which I started scanning my wedding photos -- not the official album, which is too big for the scanner, but photos by friends and proofs -- and tried to catch up on email. Paul made waffles for lunch with the separated part of the sourdough starter, then we went to Lake Whetstone again to walk because there aren't a lot of people and there are a lot of goslings, herons, cormorants, and other birds!
I did a Zoom chat with fannish friends for a couple of hours before dinner, after which we watched the last episode of the first season of World on Fire, which was less depressing than I expected, and the first episode of Snowpiercer, which went in a different direction from the movie and has some unexpectedly awesome aspects, particularly where Jennifer Connelly's and Daveed Diggs's characters are concerned. Now I'm watching Real Steel which was $5 to own on Vudu finally and how did I not know the kid is the same one who played young Thor?
No comments:
Post a Comment