Herons

These herons appear at their appointed destinations

Preemptively materializing from distant heavens

Massive, decadent wingspans, dominating the horizon

Through the blended pinks and oranges of a thousand-year sunrise

Suspending flight missions to perch on rural wires

Did they wait all night in aroused suspense for this dramatic moment,

This choreographed display for my awed approval 

A balancing act for appreciative eyes

This flawed world has failed to disrupt their rhythms and truths

What are their secrets

October/November 2022

As I recall, I was taking early morning photos of Mt. Hood when suddenly the sky was taken over by approximately a dozen herons in flight, making their way to a nearby feeding ground where I would usually spot them. Several paused to perch on wires and take in what was below.   

This Fragile Path

Your mending flame, never receding

Illuminates this fragile path

From which I fail to navigate away

Where warmth exists and envelops

A lost, searching soul

I retreat to the silent edges

And listen for your distant, whispered tones

October, 2022

Occasionally, if one is fortunate, someone will pass through your life that is so far above and in front of, everyone else and if that time must come to a conclusion, it doesn't ease the departure or lessen the impact that they had.