The Great Blue Heron

Seldom does anyone get to choose the how or the why of their death.
Neither did the Great Blue Heron.
But if he could choose,
And if he had known,
He would most certainly agree;
To die by the light of a full moon,
Indeed, would be best.

The light is good.
The path is clear.

And though he raised both wings in a posture I have never seen in a Heron,
A thief, raising arms skyward in surrender,
(And he was a thief of fish, they said)
It was much too late for surrender.

And by the light of that same moon,
The hunter took aim at the hunted.
And The Great Blue Heron jumped away from the earth.
A heroic attempt skyward.
A sky his mortal body would never reach again.

I was never to see his crime.
(The stealing of fish they said)
I only witnessed the punishment.

I spoke not in his favor.
Nor did I ask for proof.
Proof the fish he caught,
Were not caught fairly;
Within the land and boundaries
God set aside for the Great Blue Heron.

Sadly, I imagine the mate of this great beauty,
As the love of a Heron,
Comes to rest in her heart.

And that she will agree.

To die by the light of a full moon is best.

For the path is clearest.