THE RESPECT, THE HOOPOE & THE GREY HERON...

 The Respect, The Hoopoe & The Grey Heron

The respect hung over a cold Sunday afternoon

On the approach to an office complex, closed.

Silent watchers, like in an English queue

Huddled against a wall, out of the wind’s chill,

Displaying the cameras, the binoculars and the technology

Associated with ornithology…

The hoopoe foraged in grassed shade, alone

And for its rapt audience willingly posed.

Riveted watchers, typically a motley crew

Leaned against the wall, studying the long bill,

The erect feathered crest, the staged choreography,

Performed for photography…

The grey heron rose like a winged drone.

Heavy, its draped threat was sullenly exposed.

Stunned watchers, lenses helplessly askew,

Lurched against that wall, respecting the thrill,

As the hoopoe flew to comparative safety,

Aggrieved by the enmity…

Pete Ray

1st November 2021 

 

IBM, Haywood Road in Warwick, Sunday 31st October 2021.

A lone hoopoe foraged.

Respectful humans remained quiet, as they watched the spectacle, amazed by the display of crest feathers…

And then a heron, as if from nowhere, rose to affect the hoopoe’s sanctity, forcing it to take sanctuary…