All winter
the blue heron
slept among the horses.
I do not know
the custom of herons,
do not know
if the solitary habit
is their way,
or if he listened for
some missing one—
not knowing even
that was what he did—
in the blowing
sounds in the dark,
I know that
hope is the hardest
love we carry.
He slept
with his long neck
folded, like a letter
put away.
— Jane Hirshfield, “Hope and Love” from “The Lives of the Heart: Poems“
Photo: DK @ Daybreak. Heron. 6:03 am, August 22, 2021. 75° F. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT.
Live & Learn 
“Hope is the hardest love we carry” – I will carry that with me.
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Yes…that’s the punch line here.
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What Mimi said. Just love that line….
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Yes!
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Adorable pic, David! That heron, and last week’s camel, are the most kissable!
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They are!!!!
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Wow … the blue heron!! … “Jane Hirshfield, “Hope and Love” from “The Lives of the Heart: Poems“.
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He’s having a little scratch at that itchy neck. But using his leg to do it! Can you do that?
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Laughing. I can’t even lift my leg off the ground!
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LOL! Remember when we were very young and used to pretend to answer the telephone by putting our feet up to our ears? I mean VERY young. Toddlers do it all the time. Oh, I’m suddenly feeling my age!
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OH BOY. I don’t remember ever doing THAT!
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My brother and sisters and I did it just showing off how bendy we were. What preztels we were. Now we’re just hard tack biscuits. 😊
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LOL
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I took over a hundred photos the other day of a heron on our dock. It was fascinating to observe it.
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With you Lulu. Herons and Egrets. Can’t seem to get enough.
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Ah the beauty of herons egrets ibis…and horses! how they bring such pleasure to our eyes!
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So agree Valerie!
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