PLUMAGE

To have without acquisition: The new hat, but not on the head, only the eye seduced with plumage.

Great Egret dressed in lace and masked in green, Green Heron wing, Little Blue Heron blue, Purple Gallinule: purple feathers, bill red and lavender.

Guy Bradley gave his life, shot in the back on the shell-shored island. Plumes worth more than gold.

Now they stand unconcerned, preening, across the water among the trees. Not enough water, the long grass river not long enough, but enough for now.