along lakes edge
they camouflage themselves
hiding among geese
people stop to look
at magnificent creatures
standing on water
A woman was known as a 'broad' in the U.S.
and I'm more broad-minded when there I confess
a woman was called a 'bird' in the U.K.
so when in Blighty as for me
altho' there's a pecking order
in the bird-watching hierarchy
I'm an eagle-eyed if not avid avian attendee
and yet Ol' Blue Eyes
should have paid more attention
for when he said, 'Let me be frank with you,'
and went on to sing, 'Egrets, I've had a few
but then again too few to mention,'
he proved to be a poor ornithologist
as there were not a lot of birds
(or broads) on his watcher list
The golden stain of the sunshine
Made the sea water shine like gold
And gave egrets at the coastline
The golden stain.
The egrets came with their household,
To make the water like their shrine,
Their beaks and wings defied the cold.
Young egrets stayed at the shoreline~
Their playful nature they unfold,
Still gifting the twilight skyline
The golden stain.
Contest Title: One In Five
Contest Judged: July 6th, 2025 6:34:00 PM
Sponsored by: Joseph May
Placement: Third
I
If I could share this picture with you
I would, my dear writers, Beloveds -
Because Earth births us again & again
Long after burial, giving back, post-death
Nature in majesty: birds at play in scores
II
I see egrets commute to & from, my abused lake,
Here where plastic is king, adorning flora
Even fauna, sewers overflow, trash at waters edge
But egrets, & soon the comorants return, & declare:
We overcome, can't complain, we still have fun. Be!
FOG LIKE PHANTOM STREAMS
misty beauty, white ravines
make mornings meaningful
Acacia arboretum hold fast
At the breaking before breakfast
The new day, old friends, egrets
In the midst of fiery crises
I miss cool, shady oases
O, Fountain, spring forth your fresh water
revive my land to evergreen
O, Abdim's storks, will you perch my neem?
O, white-feather, flaunting egrets
harbingers of rain,
and night croaking toads,
I've missed your glad tidings again
In the midst of hot desert dunes
I miss monsoons
and rows of sorghum
demarcated by a sorrel hedge
I miss evening drizzles
and their running clouds
nightly torrents
and showers between sunshines
Sun rises over open sedge;
soft supple light sweeps
across accordion bay.
White Egrets in blue skies
praise another day.
snowy white
ten egrets congregate
in a swampy field
Poetry is a simple ride
through back road rural country side.
Alive with gardens sprouting corn,
white puffs of cotton being born
fodder bales lazing countrified.
Each turn a treasure to the eye,
white egrets stalking incubi.
The rolling breast of every hill,
reveals a pleasured puerile;
majestic hawks soar in the sky.
Every mile of black twisting tar,
is filled with country insular.
Greening orchards and baked orange clay,
clear blue skies enhance the array,
in panoramic ocular.
On the horizon clouds cluster,
summoned to a graying muster,
raging into darkened night
frightened white egrets take to flight
lifting into this blackened sight.
Muffled thunder bellows aloud,
awakening a sleeping cloud,
as lightening scratches through the sky,
ruffling feathers as they fly
white egrets in a pitch black shroud.
Rain blurs colors in distant trees
while puffs of dust attend the breeze.
Torrential rain, that once was held,
within the grasp of this great meld
descends in fits on congeries.
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