Poem: Bradley Earle Hoge

Great Blue Heron

i

Between the ponds and sloughs
the chaotic mosquitoes
the only still thing

ii

the Great Blue Heron
lifting from the ground
as I drive near

iii

soaring low over road
like dream upon awakening

iv

clarity fleeing –
a man and a woman

v

into one life, one moment –
alighting periodically

vi

as I continue
my steady pace down refuge
road –


vii

imagine for a moment
that at our death
we hover over our loved ones
with omniscient perspective

viii

knowing all the lies
we were told, the unexpressed desires
forgotten dreams

ix

always far enough away
to be safe

x

even before I knew you
your childhood dreams never reaching
adult consciousness

xi

always close enough to see clearly

xii

that it wasn’t approval you wanted
but the freedom from fear

xiii

not fleeing
not fleeting

xiv

before we understand brimstone
and shame, the embarrassment

xv

of growing old
as memories fail and care is required
to share the proper sentiments

xvi

remaining out of reach, but connected
like entangled quantum particle

xvii

we are not infinite beings
we must pick and choose what we share
if our choices become exposed

xviii

upon our deaths
would we choose differently

xix

look down with pity
or regret

xx

eternity as still as a photo

xxi

would we want to come back
and sacrifice omniscience

xxii

as fleeting as mosquitoes

xxiii

for another chance



~ Bradley Earle Hoge lives in Spring, TX with his wife and three children. He teaches natural science at the University of Houston – Downtown. His most recent poems appear in Chronogram, Aurora Review, Stickman Review, SubtleTea, Language and Culture, and Tar Wolf Review.