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 Blue; white crest
flowing in eternal winds,
feathered tip extended
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, lesser
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,
chatter prayers against
the horned and taloned
peregrine, satanic?

Heron God
Will Kirkland
January 2012