Poetry Friday - The Great Egret

5/23/2014

We've recently downsized from our home on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida to a more reasonable home about 15 minutes inland in a bayou region; we're one house away from conservation land surrounding the bayou system. We've traded one ecosystem for another.

Just prior to moving, I was feeling very nostalgic about leaving our nearly private lagoon where we saw many types of herons (some sources include egrets as a type of heron) on a daily basis as well as osprey, bottlenose dolphins, and different varieties of rays. One of my favorites was Egor (Igor), The Great Egret, who sat on our deck railing frequently.

I feel truly blessed to have lived in such a setting for nine years, but look forward to adventures in our new bayou ecosystem as well. I'm sure we will be making new "wild" friends and have already seen a saw whet owl and an opossum. We also hear the plaintive cry of Chuck-Will's-Widow nightly.

This poem is a sort of haiku without a strict syllable count.

Great Egret tamest of the herons
waits on our railing--
eager for a sardine treat

* * * * * * * *

In other news, Michelle Barnes has featured a limerick of mine on Limerick Alley, about a teacup poodle, inspired by our own Chou-Chou, may she rest in peace. Michelle has done a wonderful job with the post. Check it out and Thank You, Michelle!

Chou-Chou 1990-2001

16 Comments

Margaret Simon link

5/23/2014 08:14:47 am

I love to catch a glimpse of a great white egret on my bayou. Our ecosystems are very similar. We should consider a collaborative poetry book about bayou lands.

Linda Baie link

5/23/2014 10:27:26 am

Fortunate in both places I think. I love that "your" egret came to visit! Had to look up a Chuck_Will's-Widow-wonderful too.

BJ Lee

5/23/2014 02:13:27 pm

hi Linda! Yes indeed, fortunate in both places. It was interesting to see how tame the great egrets could be. They were the ones you could get closest to. And Chuck will's widow is a very interesting creature -- a nightjar -- just love that word! They have a little mustache that helps them when snatching insects out of the air.

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes link

5/23/2014 12:30:56 pm

How wonderful it must have been to have a regular visitor as noble as Egor! Most of the wildlife we have around here are the UF students. :/ Though we do get plenty of possums and armadillos, and the occasional fox and hawk. So tell me, does that slug you found in the garage count as a "wild" friend?

Thanks so much for lending your talent to Today's Little Ditty today. The post is only as good as the poem I'm framing. :)

BJ Lee

5/23/2014 02:16:43 pm

hi Michelle! Ha ha ha on the *wild* UF students. And yes, I would have to count the slug as a wild friend. It was fun writing the teacup limerick & equally fun having you * frame* it. Thanks for the compliment!

Violet N. link

5/23/2014 12:35:59 pm

How wonderful for you to be living so close to the water again. It's a wish that hasn't come true for me yet.

Enjoyed your haiku and the limerick on Michelle's site too.

BJ Lee

5/23/2014 02:19:46 pm

thanks Violet! I do hope you get to live by the water some day, wherever that may be. We chose Florida -- originally from Boston -- and could not get used to the heat for about 10 years, but now Florida does feel like home.:) it's a good place to come if you want to be near the water.

BJ Lee

5/23/2014 02:09:22 pm

Margaret -- yes we do live in the same type of ecosystem now. I hadn't thought about doing poems about the bayou.I need to learn more about it since we just moved here but that is a fun prospect! :)

Robyn Waayers

5/23/2014 03:03:38 pm

I'm SO envious of your natural wonders -- right in your back yard(s)! We have lots of nature, too, of course, but your almost-tropical world is very exciting to think about (DOLPHINS in your back yard!!!). Love the haiku, and that's quite a shot of the big egret.

BJ Lee

5/24/2014 05:09:05 am

Hi Robyn! Thanks for stopping by! I 'm glad you liked the haiku! Yes Florida has been amazing! Yes it's hot but you can always go out in the evening . We actually love it here now and wouldn't trade it and Mal is loving the new house where many creatures live in the conservation lands just steps away. I just hope we don't encounter any panthers , gators or pythons.

Becky Shillington link

5/24/2014 07:00:29 am

This makes me miss Florida, BJ! Lovely poem!

B.J. Lee

5/25/2014 09:22:33 am

Thanks Becky. I'm glad you liked it. Yes, Florida sure is beautiful but it's just starting to get really hot and hurricane season starts June 1. Yikes!

Mary Lee Hahn link

5/24/2014 09:00:46 am

Beautiful photo! Lucky you to have wildlife so up close and personal!

B.J. Lee

5/25/2014 09:24:27 am

Thanks Mary Lee! We enjoy Florida's wildlife! When we first moved here in 2000, we were amazed at how the big birds - herons, egrets, seemed so tame and they are everywhere. I'm quite used to it know whereas in Boston you got to see a great blue once in a blue moon.

jama link

5/24/2014 06:04:06 pm

What a beautiful bird! I didn't realize there were opossums in Florida. We have them in our woods too. No egrets, though :). Lucky you.

B.J. Lee

5/25/2014 09:25:45 am

Thanks Jama! Yes, I was surprised to see the opossum. I saw another one the other night so it was not a fluke. We have armadillos too.

Author

I am a poet who writes for children and sometimes for adults. I live in Florida with my husband, speculative poet, Malcolm Deeley, and our toy poodle Bijoux. I have over 90 poems published or forthcoming in major anthologies and magazines, including "The Journal of Children's Literature". In 2014, I reached the Final Four in the March Madness Poetry Contest. I'm a member of The Poets' Garage and The SCBWI.

Poets' Garage website

Includes my poem "Skateboard Girl"

Includes my poem "The Red Crabs of Christmas Island"

Coming in 2018 National Geographic's book of US: 200 Poems of People, Places, and Passions (edited by J. Patrick Lewis.)
Will include my poem, "Groundhognostication"