Bittern
To the edge of the slain reeds you skulk
Where cold winds merge with your stealth
Bill like a tainted bayonet
waits patiently to strike
Your dappled plumage smothers the fen
and stalks your lonely haunts
Erect now this shadow of the reedbeds
dissolving into one next to still waters
Where the timid Water rail jerks
and the restless Rudd gather
Solitary hunter where Sedges bow
and the shifting silence uplifts the soul
You climb stems and rise on rounded wings
to seek out your solemn bastions
Melting away once more
as you vanish amongst your sacred refuge.
By Neil. Rolph.
Bittern
To the edge of the slain reeds you skulk
Where cold winds merge with your stealth
Bill like a tainted bayonet
waits patiently to strike
Your dappled plumage smothers the fen
and stalks your lonely haunts
Erect now this shadow of the reedbeds
dissolving into one next to still waters
Where the timid Water rail jerks
and the restless Rudd gather
Solitary hunter where Sedges bow
and the shifting silence uplifts the soul
You climb stems and rise on rounded wings
to seek out your solemn bastions
Melting away once more
as you vanish amongst your sacred refuge.
By Neil. Rolph.