Oh youthful one, 

Life began with your parents 

Taking great care 

To build a nest 

Stick by stick. 

• 

Constructed upon a tree snag

They located it

Close to homes of their kin

In a colonial manner

Known as a rookery.

• 

Once incubated eggs hatched, 

You and your siblings, 

Necks outstretched, 

Vied for attention

With a chorus of primordial croaks.

• 

Just as fast as 

you could turn 

the soundtrack on

You turned it off, 

And silence ensued.

• 

Until, that is,

Your parents flew in, 

Each taking a turn,

With a meal ready

To be regurgitated. 

• 

And then it was a case 

Of who 

Could outsquawk whom 

For a chance to dine

On food so fine.

• 

I watched 

From the wetland’s edge

• 

Where Painted Turtles basked,

• 

Four-spotted Dragonflies paused,

• 

Wood Ducks paraded and Watershield bloomed.

• 

With the passage of time

You outgrew your soft bed,

And stood to show off

A body slaty gray,

accentuated in chestnut and black.

• 

Eventually,

The meals changed

To large fish or other delights,  

While tug-of-wars ensued,

But you held tight. 

• 

Growing stronger by weeks,

You soon practiced

Balance beam moves

On branches beside 

Your high-rise home. 

• 

Flaps of wings

Anticipated flight.

Until the moment arrived, 

When stronger beats

Led to lift off.

• 

As you flew,

A wise parent, 

Its head white

Topped with a long, black plume,

Stood sentry in protection mode.

• 

Two months after

Entering this world,

You fledge, that bird moment 

Of solo flights

And food forages.

• 

It’s in another wetland setting

I next found you, 

Silently stalking,

In search of frogs and fish

Passing by.

• 

With practice 

You’ll strike a meal 

As you quickly 

Grab or impale prey 

Trying to pass by. 

• 

My hope for you,

Young Ardea herodias, is this:

May you live long, 

Building, canoodling, 

Foraging, parenting.

• 

May you

Demonstrate strategies 

Of making one’s own way

In the world

Rather than relying upon others. 

• 

To best observe you, 

May I take a page from your book,

And stand or sit still

In meditative contemplation

As I try to not cause commotion.

• 

As colonial as you’ll become when breeding, 

Which serves as a survival strategy, 

May you develop into a truly solitary creature,

Reminding us to occasionally spend time alone

And always be present in the moment.