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New Neighbors
Rock Creek Park, Washington
Squat sentinels of evening
keep watch now at the old ford,
motionless,
dark-hooded like bandits,
their eyes wary, alert,
lest some foolish fish try
trespassing
in the bright of afternoon.
They are the black-crowned
night heron,
our new, still neighbors in the park.
Some stand gray and silent
on rocks in the rushing water,
some peer down from flood-strewn logs,
some perch shyly,
half-hidden in the trees.
All are watching,
all patient for the sun's descent,
after which their work begins
in earnest.
June, 2001
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