Corey Mesler

THE BLESSING OF THE EGRETS

At first glance it was an explosion
of balloons as white as foam-drift
in the middle of the road.
Why on a road in rural Mississippi,
on a day hot as monkeys,
should a flock of egrets interrupt
our thoughts?   Why the magisterial wonder
of nature in the midst of this homely trip?
The kids looked sleepily toward them:
about as interesting as TV.
No more, no less.
They are still young
and nature is natural to them.
They are natural
themselves, so when
a small miracle appears
they are a match for it. 
It is up to you, it is up to me,
to startle, and, now, to witness.

Location:	Memphis, Tennessee
Occupation:	Book reviewer / Fiction editor / University Press Sales Rep / Owner of Burke's Book Store, one of the country's oldest (1875)
Email:	resolemcrey@yahoo.com
Website:	http://www.burkesbooks.com
Publications:	Canopic Jar, Contrary, Pindeldyboz, Mars Hill Review, Pikeville Review, Arkansas Review, Center, Small Press Review, Jabberwock Review, Rattle, Orchid, etc.
Books:	Talk (Livingston Press, 2002), Chin-Chin in Eden (Still Waters Press, 2003)
Awards:	Winner of the Moonfire Poetry Chapbook Competition; Short story selected for the 2002 edition of New Stories from the South: The Year's Best

- February 2004 - La Niņa, Arizona Sympathetic Magic Plans for Bringing Back a Dead Baby Ghosts The Blessing of the Egrets The Physics of Tea