Bridge World

At dawn I walked in the park
toward the bridge
connecting a lake and a creek.
In the lake
a flock of mallards were swimming a circle dance,
dipping to bathe
then stretching their necks,
waving their wings
then shaking tail feathers
all while quacking and splashing in circles.
I leaned on the railing,
the creek at my back
watching this gift of a
duck dance

until a whoosh
startled me to turn around
where a great blue heron,
wings the width of the creek
swooped a few yards from under the bridge
and stood perfectly still in the water.
In this gifted moment
with my gaze fixed in unity
with this magnificent creature
we each acknowledged
our acknowledgement of the other,
until he vanished into the reeds.

I left the gifts of this bridge world,
altered by the seeing.

All images are photos taken by my husband, David Holder, at the park near our house in Michigan where we often take walks at all times of the day.

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