Second Grade
by Lori Anaya
Blue heron searches for food on the school’s quiet field
Stands over gopher’s dirt mound
We leave our classroom for library time, discover her
Hush, becoming quiet, wanting to get closer
Gray feathered and tall, she is walking royalty
Our arms grow feathers, we stretch our wings
Straighten our backs, bend our knees up high
Walk soundless and slow, becoming dreamers
The lone bird, with only a beak and no hands
Snacks on her catch, until
Thundering first graders rush out
A flurry of squawking
Great blue heron flies away
Pumping graceful wings, becoming sky
How we look into that sky testing new wings
How our feet leave the ground
How she was ours for those moments
Magnificent and mysterious without words
How we wait, hope, search looking
How library day is not the real reason we love Mondays
How, when no one is looking, we walk out of our room
Becoming heron
Lori Anaya is a poet and bilingual crosscultural elementary educator with 36 years experience and an M.S. in bilingual Special Education. She’s a Macondista and SCWriP Fellow published in labloga.blogspot.com and several literary journals. She writes across genres. Learn more at https://loribanaya.com/.
You can read the entire This Makes up the Sky series by visiting: https://womenwhosubmitlit.org/category/the-sky/