Pity me not. Even caged, I can strut.
I am Platalea ajaja — Roseate Spoonbill.
There isn’t a mudhen alive
can strain marsh ooze better than I.
There isn’t a peacock prouder
of its plumage and stately gait.
But envy me not, ye who are ordinary and drab.
The last craze for feathers in women’s hats
nearly finished us off.
Photo of a Roseate Spoonbill at The National Aviary.
Photograph 2012 and prayer 2016 by Danny N. Schweers.
Danny N. Schweers teaches photo classes at the Delaware Museum of Art, is a member in the Washington
Printmakers Gallery in D.C., and is president of the Brandywine Photo Collective.
He was a staff member of the original Austin Sun.
x