29/04/2020
Silhouetted Trees
Silhouetted trees
Cast darkness over the lake
A mirrored reflection in the fading night
Backlit by a pale orange glow
Of setting sun
The night lake becomes a bird sanctuary
as flock after flock of cormorant
swoop low, then up and around, over the lake
before adroitly landing on one of many trees
dressing the little inland island
Along the outer shore,
foraging clucking ducks, ripple the reflection
A spoonbill heron, stark white against the evening dim
Creeps, with gentle motion, the river dregs
With stealth, an egret balancing on one leg,
gracefully poised,
moves with quickness,
her prey momentarily flapping the air
While snoot and blue feathered water fowl
forage the shore,
this way, that way.
Some ducks quarrel,
increasing the velocity of ripple,
sending shivers across the lake surface
All the while, birds hither to and fro,
land on a branch here,
fly again,
choose another branch,
land,
as beaks finally seek feathers to comb and settle
The sky presents in softening hues from bright orange to a blush with rising mauve, darkening blue. It is peaceful, despite bird flight, despite bird cries. A sliver of moon and nearby Saturn, hang in a cloudlessly pure early night.
A mosquito hovers, bites; distracting my reverie. Time to leave my night-lake absorption to feathered ritual.
Despite the bite, my heart is filled.
Nancy Wilkinson
McDougall Park
26 April 2020