The tabby stalks
as stealthily as a leopard,
panting,
through the tall, winter-yellow grass,
her eyes glowing,
alert for the smallest movement.
She is dreaming of mice
and ready to pounce.
There is an old woman
sitting in thin late-winter sunlight,
watching the cat, thinking of
a snow leopard in the Himalayas,
as elusive
as her long-vanished dreams.
There is a blue heron,
standing one-legged,
looking out at the western sea,
like its cousin, the flamingo,
in her more brilliant plumage,
the width of a continent
and a warmer shore away.
Three lives in late winter,
anchored by one foot
on the ground,
with minds all
far-travelling.
Smiles. Brain is tired today, some nonsense for Shay's Word List.
Not nonsense at all, Sherry! I honestly think that this is one of your best!
ReplyDeleteI especially love that tabby and their dreams. We all have them. And then the second stanza follows along so nicely, with the woman's OWN dreams!
ReplyDeleteMy dad said we die when we no longer have dreams.
ReplyDeleteI love the analogy of the heron to the flamingo. We have herons in the creeks and rivers here. I have always loved them. Flamingos may be more colorful. But the Heron has a beauty just as real as the Flamingo.
"Watching the cat, thinking of
ReplyDeletea snow leopard in the Himalayas" - Love these lines and the way it works - so much in here and from the heart.
I love the way great blue heron populations have rebounded! Even my home town now has a few. Good to read that the Pacific coast has them, too.
ReplyDeletePK
This is beautiful. I feel the wild yearning in each one.
ReplyDeleteSherry, this is wonderful. When you write about animals, so much heart is felt.
ReplyDeleteOooh! Really nice. I like the way each stanza sets up the following one.
ReplyDelete