{"id":16972,"date":"2016-05-14T10:33:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T14:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=16972"},"modified":"2016-05-14T11:37:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T15:37:38","slug":"hunt-at-spitfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2016\/05\/14\/hunt-at-spitfire\/","title":{"rendered":"“Whole mind gone heron”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Archive<\/a>

Archive Photo of the Day: Sr. Mary F. Barnes, Ogdensburg, NY<\/p><\/div>\n

We all have one special thing that is the real sign of spring for us. It might be the first trillium, the first lilac. For me, it’s the first heron. Here’s a new poem from a moment long ago when that bond was set.<\/p>\n

Hunt at Spitfire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following just behind its shadow and just as silent,
\na heron ghosts into the slough from Spitfire Lake
\nno more than five feet off the water, close enough
\nto hit with a rock, my Stone Age genes advise.<\/p>\n

The heron too is of a hunter’s mind, spilling air
\nto light in an open shallow amid marsh grass.
\nWhere fingerlings flit and feed in warmer water
\nthe heron stands still and straight to prey.<\/p>\n

Out of line of sight I paddle closer, careful dip
\nand pull to make no splash, slowly, slower,
\nuntil I ship the paddle, lie forward and slip
\ninto reeds, pulling myself along hand over hand.<\/p>\n

I wait and watch, feet away, as the heron steps,
\nstops, waits and stabs downwards. One stab,
\none fish. Good hunting. Nothing is in my eye
\nbut heron, whole mind gone heron for a spell,<\/p>\n

until the hunter squats, leaps, beats great wings–
\nonce, twice, thrice–splashing on the downbeat,
\nwilling its weight into the air, a little higher,
\nhigher, away. “Oh! Me too,”<\/em> I cry. “Me too!”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have one special thing that is the real sign of spring for us. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[6128,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16972"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16981,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions\/16981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}