Heron
 
Grey heron, lone figure in the landscape,
Guardian of the desolate spot.
 
Poised, alert, motionless,
This watchful hermit waits.
 
Keeper of the shallow pool :
Unblinking, tension fills his stillness -
Swift the harpoon stab of hunter's beak.
 
Self contained, solitary, grouped herons
Standing silently : together, apart.
 
Out of character courtship -
All bill snap and neck stretch,
 
Slow step, ruffle of feathers -
A temporary slip of Ardean sang froid :
An undertaker partying.
 
Secretly herons have designs on us,
Arched winged they case suburbia.
 
Two, together, slow motion
Above the urban crawl;
 
Lone raiders of the garden pools
(Harried by squawking, diving crows)
Leave to gather in seclusion.
 
Strangely they meet together in large groups :
Eight, stationary like old grey men,
 
Out of reach amid the plough -
Glimpsed from the motorway.
 
Below the lane to Halwyn
Nine herons muster : semicircled
Board meeting, waiting for the chair.
 
He arrives, tacking and turning, flapping
Legs and wings - lands : a broken kite.
 
Giraffing neck, synchronised
With yellow Max Wall legs :
 
Slo' - mo'ing into place, to freeze
Eel thin, stationary as the rest.
The tableau waits : business to begin.
 
Complete, this private gathering
(Cosa Nostra of the wild)
Plan campaigns, moves to new territories.
 
Meeting closed, singly they leave for home
To impose their swift brutalities.