THE BITTERN

In these economic hard times

I want to be a bittern

And find a safe niche

In the tall reeds.

While others stalk the flats

In search of schools of profit,

I stand concealed -

Stealthy, even sneaky -

Ready to strike when opportunity

Comes swimming by.

I am apart from the crowd.

I stand tall, hiding in plain sight

Concealed within the striated stalks

Living life on my own terms.

I see what others do not

The slow and steady yields

That put food on the table

And keep the system in balance.

The Ponzi schemes of fast-blooming abundance

Don’t suck me in

For I have found my own path

And am one with the bittern.