Zen-like and resolute, poet Christian Ward’s heron, which serves as the centerpiece of his poem, weathers the turmoil and distractions of life, awaiting much-needed change. Beyond time, the heron is poised on one leg in Christian’s poem, the epitome of stillness in the man-made cacophony storming around it, until in the poem’s final lines comparing the heron to a prayer, the reader gleans what the disciplined bird waits for.
Heron, Returning
The heron’s returned,
standing on one leg
while pedestrians pass
over the bridge. Toddlers
wail like sirens. Phones
blare Spotify playlists.
Tough as a Kevlar jacket,
the heron resists the oily noise
running over its grey feathers.
It stands and waits for rain-
clouds to run in like horses;
poised for the return of frogs
and fish, for the stream
to overflow until it can eat
no more. In another life
the heron might be a prayer
someone once said. Here
it stands, waiting for the sudden,
needed change.
Christian Ward
Christian Ward is a UK-based writer who can be currently found in Tipton Poetry Journal, Amazine, Rye Whiskey Review, Fresh Words and Bluepepper.