The Kingfisher by Elizabeth Henry

illustration: Delphine Jones

Mid lichen-covered branches,

Beside the river deep,

I saw a flash of colour,

And so to the bank did creep.

 

I wandered circumspectly,

To where the flash had been,

And crouched amid the verdure;

It was clammy, dank and green.

 

At once he did appear there,

A blaze of blaring blue.

And from his haughty countenance

I guessed he’d seen me too.

 

His beak was stretched and pointed

And his amber breast aglow.

His movement, once so rapid,

Seemed phlegmatic, slack and slow.

 

He sat composed and silent,

Eyeballs flitting here and there.

So cunning and intelligent,

Concealed within his lair.

 

And then at last he glimpsed it,

His unsuspecting prey,

And plunged into the watercourse

To carry it away.