STILL VAINLY SEARCHING

I spent a pleasant morning walking
quietly around the grounds, searching
for them diligently, but as on most days

they again remained hidden from sight.
I did see several cattle egrets staring
deeply into the foliage, knowing

that breakfast lay hidden deep within,
and a flock of ibis pecking life
from the still wet, just watered lawns.

Today I even saw a Great Blue Heron
admiring herself in the still surface
of the pond across the road, and

a snowy egret and a little green heron
engaged in a silent conversation
to which I would never be privy,

but in the glare of the morning sun,
despite my careful search, not
a single poem showed itself, leaving

me to hope that tomorrow would
bring better luck, or at least a cinquain
or a ballade, not my pantoum of failure.

an old writer and his words