I wondered as I watched
the great Blue Heron fishing
if he had a god , and if so
did it look like him?

Enormous wings across the sky,
creator Heron, white crest
flowing in eternal winds,
feathered tip stretched out
not quite touching
first mortal of his making.

Like our own Abrahamic
God, so just like us
in face and mind
golden iris burning rage
thunder, lightning
final judgment
herons hurled to hell
on broken wings.

I wondered does the sparrow
plump and peckish
in the brambles, tiny
lungs like thimbles, pinhead eyes,
tremble at the retribution
of a god of his own kind
chattering prayers against
the horned and taloned
peregrine, satanic.

Heron God
Will Kirkland
January 2012