egret & crane

the egret knows its territory
steps forward with poise, without care for
the edge of the grass, the border of the creeping phlox
pokes at the sky with its beak perfectly, pleasingly angled
silent.

the crane hovers in the distance, drops
its shadow to its steady soundtrack of beeps
and the persistent, percussive THWACK
of the white Tyvek sheets in the wind.


the egret lifts its feet over the crumpling wire fence that it ignores
pokes its head up at the towering Tyvek
poke-THWACK-poke-THWACK-poke-THWACK
ducks under the shadow of the crane
poke-THWACK-poke-THWACK-
gone.