This Long-billed Curlew, the largest of North America’s shorebirds, was caught early one Texas morning along with its doppelgänger.
The Promise
The morning was subdued and gentle. It arrived without haste in increments that were imperceptible … until it was just there. The wind was notably absent, so the air had no vitality and the placid backwater’s calm veneer boasted to the open sky of how it would grasp all that came near. As the Long-billed Curlew rested on the rocky spit, its likeness was held captive and the promise was kept.
So the water told the sky
I will seize all who come nigh,
and their spirits I’ll hold tight
’til the darkness of the night.
~ Anecdote, poem and Long-billed Curlew capture, The Promise © Jerry L. Ferrara