A few feet from me a winter
heron stands in the shadow
with its needle-sharp beak,

reticulated wings the color
of wheat, black hair
combed straight back.

This heron reminds me of
a teenage boy with gelled hair.
Under his eyes is a white stripe,

a long neck that’s slightly bent,
and a penetrating gaze from
yellow eyes. The time passes.

The sun settles along the horizon.
I open my newspaper. The heron
walks off into the water

searching for a minnow. I lift
my cup of coffee in salute.
We are all one on this earth.

Steven Luria Ablon, won Academy of American Poets’ Prize 1961 and the National Library of Poetry, Editor’s Choice Award 1994. His poems have appeared in many anthologies and magazines. He has published five collections of poetry, most recently Dinner in the Garden (Columbia, South Carolina, 2018).