For the end of the month Poetry Sisters challenge, Mary Lee posted this call to write deeper wisdom poems in the form of Jane Yolen’s What the Bear Knows. I recall a similar challenge from Michelle Barnes’ interview with Joyce Sidman on Today’s Little Ditty. I used this form in my book Bayou Song to write about the black-crowned night-heron.
To order a copy of Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape, go to UL Press website.
On this anniversary of Hurricane Laura that devastated Lake Charles, Louisiana last year, we are once again bracing for a storm, Tropical Storm Ida that is predicted to come in around New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane. We are preparing and watching news closely. Please keep us in your prayers. We know how to do this. I’ll post updates as I am able on Instagram/ Facebook. Thanks!
Reflections on the Teche 
Take care, Margaret. Praying for you. Thank-you for sharing your beautiful Night Heron poem. It looks very similar to our Nankeen Night Heron. They wear a black hat and plum-buff coat. They’re very shy!
Wishing you and all the herons and wood ducks safe passage through another storm!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a night heron. That red eye is full of intense wisdom.
SO finely done, and what a cache it is. Meanwhile, over here in Texas with all my fingers crossed that the storm will lose its oomph and you’ll stay safe and dry….
So beautiful, Margaret. I feel like i would know the night heron if I ever saw one. Keeping you and others in the storm’s path in my thoughts and prayers. Take care.
Love the poem, Margaret. The night heron is such a serious/severe looking bird, like a strict schoolmarm! I can imagine it squawking: Stand straight, chin up!! Get that feather out of your beak! ;0) I will be sending prayers your way for a safe ride through Ida. A challenge, but… you are a pro!
Lovely. I always enjoy learning more about the wildlife of the bayou from you. Prayers for protection through this tropical storm/hurricane season!
My mother grew up in Patterson,Louisiana, and I loved to visit the water there, but it might surprise you that I saw my first Black-crowned night heron here in California! I love them – they are just beautiful, and seem to hold a quiet within themselves. Congratulations on your book of poetry!
What a nice poem about the BCNH, one of my favorite birds. We have them here in CT as well. Good luck with the storm. My home state of Mississippi is bracing for the impact, too.
Thank you for sharing this. Wishing you safe passage through the storm.
All herons fascinate me, but I am not lucky enough to see the black-crowned night heron very often. Such beautiful birds! I’m so glad you revisited this poem from your book. It’s a treat! On that other front–the weather one–I have been so wrapped up in school prep that I didn’t even know there was another hurricane in the pipeline. Yikes! Take care and please do update us as you can.
I was brought up to believe that a sighting of a heron would mean good fortune & I love your Night Heron’s wisdom, Margaret. Wishing it will bring you & yours good luck with this storm. I did see it was headed your way.
I love, “the slightest ripple” simply doesn’t go unnoticed by the Black-crowned Night-Heron. They can be so still…and then BAM! It’s always a delight to spot a heron.
Such a wonderful story and picture you paint of this black-crowned night heron, and lovely pic too, thanks Margaret. Thinking of you and hope that you and your family and friends are safe!
Margaret, thinking of you today with prayers for everyone’s safety. That black-crowned heron is quite the bird! The rhyming in this poem is spot on. Thanks for sharing.
Wishing you safe and well through the storm. This poem is wonderful! It paints a vivid picture of the life of the heron in the Bayou.
You made such good use of this form for your heron! I’d forgotten about that one. You DO know how to do this, but stay watchful and keep safe!
The heron is a wise fellow and you are a master of this form. Sending you all my safe keeping vibes. 🙂
Evocative poem. I especially love “his beak’s great cache.”
I read your later posts and saw you and your family are safe. It’s wonderful how you can be a haven for them. Blessings to you all.