Day 768: Heron

Have you ever watched a heron take flight? It's exactly as described here, clumsy and cumbersome and well, funny.  (This poem is taken from the very lovely anthology: 'The Poetry of Birds', edited by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee.)



The Heron - Paul Farley
 
One of the most begrudging avian take-offs
is the heron's fucking hell, all right, all right,
I'll go the garage for your flaming fags
cranky departure, though once they're up
their flight can be extravagant. I watched
one big spender climb the thermal staircase,
a calorific waterspout of frogs
and sticklebacks, the undercarriage down
and trailing. Seen from antiquity
you gain the Icarus thing; seen from my childhood
that cursing man sets out for Superkings,
though the heron cares for neither as it struggles
into its wings then soars sunwards and throws
its huge overcoat across the earth.