Spirit of Place: Great Blue
Heron
Out of their loneliness for
each other
two reeds, or maybe two shadows, lurch
forward and become
suddenly a life
lifted from dawn or the rain. It is
the wilderness
come back again, a lagoon
with our city reflected in its eye.
We live by
faith in such presences.
It is a test for us, that
thin
but real, undulating figure that promises,
"If you keep faith I will
exist
at the edge, where your vision joins
the sunlight and the rain:
heads in the light,
feet that go down in the mud where the truth
is."
~ William Stafford ~
(on a plaque in Portland's City
Hall, for Portland's city bird)
(The Way It
Is)
(left button to play, right button
to save)