Blue Heron and family

To The Great Blue Heron

Teach me to stand alone in cold water, to wait
poised for nourishment to drift my way
Show me how to bend my legs
so I move deliberately, looking neither right nor left
Teach me how to swallow without chewing,
to hold a fish in my gullet until its scales become wings
Show me how to puff down into a secret
so only those who know me can find me
Teach me how to open my wings and fly,
unexpected and perfect, a crone in the sky.

----Joyce Lott

These photos were taken in the Edmonds, Washington marina, June 2010.