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Michael Colonnese
Birding in the Tidal Estuary
After Visiting a Friend in Hospice
Egret and regret,
Turnstone and remorse.
When the tide comes in
Lesser Yellowlegs and Willet
flee inland to fresh water
while Clapper Rail and Red Wing
tough things out in the marsh,
haunt of the Great Blue Heron
and the brackishness of waiting.
Where the Sandpiper goes
when it’s not mudflat,
tracks won’t tell. Perhaps
the same place sorrow goes
when there’s nothing left to hide.
About the writer:
Michael Colonnese is the author of mystery novel, Sex and Death, I Suppose, and of two poetry collections, Temporary Agency and Double Feature. He lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Image: Landscape with Estuary by Cornelis Hendricksz Vroom (1590/1592-1661). Oil on panel. 19.6 x 26.3 inches. 1638. Public domain.
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