Not for the Faint of Heart

(Brown Pelicans)

The green waters caress the beach beneath me.
Over sparkling waves I fly
searching for fish with a hunger that never ends.

There, a flash and another—
a school of minnows chases their minute food.
IIn twisting, shiny streams among the currents
their thousands, oblivious to me.
My excitement grows.

Almost motionless I drift on rising air
then twist left and drop,
stretching my neck forward,
flattening my wings rearward.
A knife. The water parts.

I open my beak to in-rushing water and the fish it carries.
The water drains. The fish remain.
I rise in the air and repeat
rise and repeat
rise and repeat.