HERON

Would that I could pick at life that way

Only tasty morsels

While overlooking the rest

Walking carefully over the rocks

Staying in the shallow water

Not feeling the sand beneath my feet

Waiting to see what good things

Wash up for me to choose

Ignoring the rest

What do I want to eat today?

Where do I want to fly?

Taking time to breathe

Gazing at the sky

Waiting for the best things

To wash up in the waves

Can’t I wait to choose the good things too, and

Ignore the rest before I fly away?

I want to gather health

Kindness and laughter and beauty too

Some sunny, warm days

When my skin feels nourished, smooth and oily

I want to pick up a pearl for my grandmother

Some grace for me

No illness, no wanting, no dread

Can’t I pick at life that way?

Then fly away, leaving the rest?

Geri Ryan-Harden is a Speech and Language Pathologist who shares her love of words with fellow members of the Sweetgrass Writer’s Group.  She believes that words are the open windows that our innermost thoughts and feelings can fly through.  She lives in a lovely town in Michigan, continually looking for the elusive heron to photograph.