Egret
Tall gray bird, an egret I think, standing
in the shallows of a small pond over in
the fields behind the high school,
poised, quiet, elegant, intensely
focused, his head with its long beak
snapping suddenly like a whip
into the water, stabbing at one
of the innumerable, plump, brown
tadpoles beginning to kick their frog
legs. But he misses, comes up dry,
his beady eyes staring down
into the dark water, incredulous
at having missed and,
if I didn’t know better, a little
bit embarrassed about it too.
Egret © Michael Estabrook 2012