Love Poem: Stared Down By the Shoebill Stork
Caren Krutsinger Avatar
Written by: Caren Krutsinger

Stared Down By the Shoebill Stork

I was standing next to an African swamp the other day
When the wing span of a dynamo spread a shadow my way
It covered my body length, and I was lying down flat.
I said to my husband “What do you think of that?”

“It’s a shoebill stork,” he informed me with a hush.
Don’t excite him, because he will come out of the brush.
The shoebill was at least five foot tall, standing on his feet.
Which intimidated me, as I know shoe bills love to eat.

What do they consume? I asked my husband, worried.
He whispered “lungfish,” and his voice sounded hurried.
The blue gray shoebill began to stare me down right away.
I thought we were both goners on that horrible day!